Canada’s top 10 cars and light trucks through the first quarter of 2012

Canada’s No. 1 passenger car remains the Honda Civic, followed by the Hyundai Elantra and a long list of other compact cars

[FIMG=LEFT]http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/2012_Civic_LX_Sedan.jpg[/FIMG]Jeremy Cato - THEGLOBEANDMAIL - May 1, 2012

Compacts and trucks still rule our market --Ed.

Perhaps we should call this phenomenon the schizophrenia of the new car marketplace.

Consider: through the first quarter of this year (January to March), sales of fuel-efficient subcompact cars, or “B” cars, were up a stunning 32.2 per cent, while sales of almost-as-thrifty compact cars (“C” cars) were up a far more modest 4.8 per cent. And sales of thirstier intermediate cars, or “D” cars, were up 27.6 per cent.

“So it appears that passenger car intenders are moving further down-market from C-sized vehicles to B-sized vehicles, both of which are very fuel efficient, though B-cars are even more fuel efficient than Cs,” says auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers in a note to clients.

Meanwhile, reasonably frugal small pickup sales were down 13.1 per cent, though this can be attributed solely to the fact that Ford of Canada no longer sells the Ranger.

That said, DesRosiers notes, “some of the least fuel efficient vehicles are in the luxury/large/sport segments and they are up 8.6 per cent in March and are up 17.3 per cent YTD [year to date].”... [RM]http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/driving-it-home/canadas-top-10-cars-and-light-trucks-through-the-first-quarter-of-2012/article2419043/[/RM]

 

You should come visit Texas some day.
Central Texas new vehicle sales up 17.1%

 

From my experience it's all the people living in rural areas, suburban dwellers with more space and boats and ski-doos and so on, and the farmers who buy trucks. People in the largest cities like Toronto don't buy many trucks. But even in cities like Winnipeg or Calgary, they are quite common. It's probably pretty much like Texas out here in western Canada.

 

Mike, that's the picture I get as well. Except we don't have winter.

I do notice that my report is for central Texas, meaning Austin. Austin is like a Left Coast city transported into Texas. That explains the Prius' appearance on the list. Not likely in the rest of the state.

 

Some. But I'd expect that for many it's like Maine. People buy a plot and build a house in a rural area and then say that they have to have 4WD because their roads aren't plowed.

For most people 4WD is a lifestyle choice.

 

It's different here, even a 2wd compact pickup can do reasonably well in winter and go places that a car cannot simply because of its ground clearance.