TOP 5 BEST-SELLING SUVs IN CANADA (OCTOBER 2009)

Four out of the top five best-selling auto brands in Canada - circa October '09 - are represented with SUVs in this, the Top 5 Best-Selling SUVs in Canada for October 2009. In fact, while Canada's third best-selling brand, Dodge, doesn't feature in the Graph below, Canada's sixth best-selling brand, Hyundai, does so with a very strong performance.

We're closing in on winter solstice, yet the Pontiac Solstice is dead and the Chevrolet Equinox is selling like southern-baked hotcakes in cold Canada. Ford has escaped the autumn doldrums with profitability, sales success, and the best-selling SUV in Canada, the Escape. Of course. And Japan's dominators, Toyota and Honda, come at this Top 5 from different angles; one with its most inexpensive SUV and the other with its most luxurious. South of the border, Toyota paves the way with luxury and low cost while Honda uses its least-expensive SUV to forge its way to number one. Compare and contrast, if you will, the Graph below with the equivalent story from the United States.

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING TRUCKS IN CANADA (OCTOBER 2009)

For one reason or another Canadians continue to buy against the grain at General Motors dealerships. GMC's Sierra once again out-sold the Chevrolet Silverado in the Great White North (which isn't even close to white right now). Pairing the two together wasn't enough to forestall Ford from taking the number one spot in truck sales last month. Check out the Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks in America here. The October tally for Canada is as follows.

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#5 - TOYOTA TACOMA: 797

#4 - FORD RANGER: 1,136

#3 - DODGE RAM: 2,589

#2 - GMC SIERRA (3,432)/CHEVROLET SILVERADO (3,142): 6,574

#1 - FORD F-SERIES: 7,186

TOP 10 BEST-SELLING CARS IN CANADA : OCTOBER 2009

Seventeen days into November and your craving can be satisified. Canada's best-selling cars from October are now known and Toyota has once again filled the rankings. Four cars in the Top 10 Best-Selling Cars (seen below in the Graph), one SUV in the soon-to-be-published Top 5 Best-Selling SUVs, and one truck in the also-soon-to-be-published Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks.

Canada's Auto Sales figures are completely at odds with those south of the border even if the overall brand totals manifest similar structure. We like our cars smaller, more practical, and less expensive. Only three of the Top 10 Canadian best-sellers from October are exclusively sedans. Indeed, there are three vehicles on the list that are exclusively fitted with hatchbacks. The U.S. Top 5 includes not one vehicle available with anything but a trunk.

Check out America's best-selling cars in October here and scroll down to see how Canadians made their purchases last month. Make note of vehicle number 10 while you're at it. The Good Car Guy has combined sales of the Golf and Rabbit for obvious reasons - only the name has changed. Although Volkswagen markets the GTI as a unique car these days, it's still a Golf and ought to be included in the Golf's totals. Without the GTI, Volkswagen doesn't find its way into the Top 10.

Click Graph For Larger View

CAMARO vs MUSTANG vs CHALLENGER vs CORVETTE vs VIPER: (OCTOBER 2009 SALES)

The Good Car Guy has already hosted a hypothetical debate on the classification of America's "sports cars". That was a month ago when it was becoming increasingly apparent that more people wanted a Chevrolet Camaro than a Ford Mustang. While that story holds true in October, let's not over-analyze the situation. Camaros are the new thang, the most stylin' car on the block. Besides, anybody who really, really, really wanted a new Camaro had to go without for a large part of this millennium. And then, when General Motors finally released unto us a new Camaro, it was no rehashed F-body but a world-class GT. Moreover, even the V6-engined Camaro is fast.

So don't act so surprised that Ford can't quite keep up in the fall of '09. Discounting the fact that the Camaro expanded its lead over the Mustang this month; ignoring the increase in Challenger sales this month and the decrease in Mustang sales - the 'Stang is fine. Right? Yes, the Mustang always wins..... right?

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING SUVs IN AMERICA (OCTOBER 2009)

Supplanting the Chevrolet Tahoe at the bottom end of this October edition of GoodCarBadCar.net's Top 5 Best-Selling SUVs in America is a product from crosstown competitor Ford. That's not to say Chevrolet struggled to push Tahoes in October. Sales were more than double than in the same period of '08, just a few hundred lower than the Ford CUV in this month's number five spot.

Check out last month's best-selling SUVs here, Canada's best-selling SUVs here, or October's best-selling cars or trucks from America's Sales Stats. For now, October's Top 5 Best-Selling SUVs in America can be seen in the Graph below. You'll find the ability to compare sales of these SUVs with their performance in October of '08 inside the bracketed sections. Inhabitants of the 50 states still love'em some sport-utility vehicles, even if not a single best-seller is based on anything other than a car platform.

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING TRUCKS IN AMERICA (OCTOBER 2009) - WITH "MY NAME IS RAM" COMMERCIAL

According to some industry watchers, tag-teaming identical Chevrolet and GMC products isn't "fair". For the purpose of comparing truck sales at Ford Motor Company and General Motors, however, it only makes sense to - at least periodically - add up Silverado and Sierra sales. Of course, it's still nice to know how the players in GM's playground are faring independently. Surprisingly, Canadian Auto Sales statistics tell a unique story: GMC full-size pickup trucks out-sell the Chevys.

Regardless, monthly Sales Stats from the USA prove the strength of Ford and General Motors and the comparative weakness of anybody else who sells trucks. To a degree, that weakness even includes Dodge... er, Ram. So since we're on the topic, check out the new over-played commercial for Dodge .... er, Ram, below the Numbers. Way too prototypically truck; an anticlimactic launch of a brand; and distinctly cheap all-round. Check out the best-selling trucks from September of '09 here. Or check out the Top 5 Best-Selling Cars in America here.

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#5- TOYOTA TUNDRA: +13.1% to 7,537

#4- TOYOTA TACOMA: -14% to 8,921

#3- DODGE RAM: -30% to 12,262

#2- FORD F-SERIES: -8.8% to 39,496

#1- CHEVROLET SILVERADO/GMC SIERRA: +1.6% to 43,648

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING CARS IN AMERICA - OCTOBER 2009

Far more interesting than the fact that Toyota's Camry continues its reign atop the Top 5 Best-Selling Cars In America list is the October dominance of the Toyota Corolla. Whither art thou, Honda Civic? Some 10,000 sales beneath, that's where. Civic sales were quite a bit lower in October than in the same period of '08. Close contenders for this Top 5 includes the Toyota Prius at 13,496 and the Ford Fusion at 13,445. Check out September's Top 5 Best-Selling Cars In America right here.

TOP 10 BEST-SELLING VEHICLES IN CANADA

Trucks, SUVs, minivans, and cars: The Good Car Guy has provided the Sales Stats of the best-sellers in each category through the first nine months of 2009 in Canada's automotive Marketplace. For those who haven't been able to put together the figures, GoodCarBadCar.net is here. For you. The list below shows the Top 10 Best-Selling Vehicles In Canada so far this year, adding GM's truck tandem and Chrysler LLC's minivan duo together for the purposes of inclusion... of a pert little former Good 12-winning Hyundai.

Check out the best-selling cars here, the best-selling trucks here, the best-selling SUVs here, the best-selling minivans here, the best-selling luxury cars here, the best-selling luxury brands here, or the best-selling car companies here. The Sales Stats review of the first three quarters of 2009 of Canada Auto Sales is now officially over.

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#10- HYUNDAI ACCENT: 22,284

#9 - HYUNDAI ELANTRA: 24,203

#8- DODGE RAM: 24,307

#7- FORD ESCAPE: 28,852

#6 - DODGE GRAND CARAVAN/CHRYSLER T&C: 31,577

#5- MAZDA 3: 36,974

#4- TOYOTA COROLLA: 40,284

#3- HONDA CIVIC: 48,483

#2- GMC SIERRA/CHEVROLET SILVERADO: 56,234

#1- FORD F-SERIES: 60,954

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING TRUCKS IN CANADA

So if passenger car sales in Canada are down over 20%, then truck sales must be suffering badly, too. Or not. Manufacturers competing in the Canadian Marketplace without trucks, vans, and SUVs (are there any?) aren't able to enjoy the fact that one segment of their showrooms haven't suffered plummeting sales. Indeed, the Sales Stats for the "Light Truck" category is down just 6.3% through the first three quarters of the year when compared with the same period of 2008.

While The Good Car Guy utilized a Top 13 methodology when showcasing the Top 5 best-selling cars in Canada just so a General Motors car could make it into the post, there's no need for such pity here. Here are the Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In Canada through September 30th.

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#5- FORD RANGER: 17,194

#4- DODGE RAM: 24,307

#3- CHEVROLET SILVERADO: 27,786

#2- GMC SIERRA: 28,448

#1- FORD F-SERIES: 60,594

Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America Are Different

New Dodge Ram HD Is LARGE

Any Trucks in TGCG's 100 Favourite Cars

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING CARS IN CANADA

Through the first nine months of 2009 passenger car sales in Canada were down a whopping 20.6% compared with 2008. Okay, maybe whopping is too strong a word, but car dealers have lost out on a fifth of sales. Hyundai has been the automaker posting the largest increases in Sales Stats over the course of quarters one, two, and three. Rather than suffering a drop akin to the overall market, Hyundai has increased their Numbers by 26.3% over 2008. In other words, rather than the 65,434 sales Hyundai had through September of '08, Hyundai has 82,642 vehicles sold.

Evidence of this success can be seen in the list below of the best-selling cars in Canada. Grabbing a firm hold on two spots in the Top 5 isn't an easy task for a brand that was still labelled "upstart" less than a decade ago. Canadians won't be surprised by the three cars which have taken up residence above those two Hyundais although.... read this with your friends or coworkers and you'll spot a few dropped jaws at the order in which the Camry, Accord, and Ford Fusion settle. Imagine America's best-selling cars not cracking the top ten north of the border? And imagine needing to include thirteen cars just to fandangle a General Motors product onto the list? And imagine.... okay, enough with the imagining.

Canada's thirteen most successful cars can be seen in the list below.

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#13- CHEVROLET COBALT: 11,501

#12- TOYOTA CAMRY: 11,811

#11- HONDA ACCORD: 12,472

#10- FORD FUSION: 12,584

#9- NISSAN VERSA: 15,505

#8- TOYOTA MATRIX: 15,675

#7- FORD FOCUS: 17,217

#6- TOYOTA YARIS: 19,426

#5- HYUNDAI ACCENT: 22,284

#4- HYUNDAI ELANTRA: 24,203

#3- MAZDA 3: 36,974

#2- TOYOTA COROLLA: 40,284

#1- HONDA CIVIC: 48,483

Check out the best-selling SUV in Canada

Care to rediscover Canada's best-selling minivan?

Hyundai cracks into the best-selling luxury car list

Top 5 best-selling cars in America (September)

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING LUXURY SUVs & THE OVERALL BEST-SELLING SUVs IN CANADA

We're quickly approaching November (November!) and while the Numbers you'll read below will not be invalidated or forgotten, they will be added to. Changed, if you will.

Of late, GoodCarBadCar.net has been covering the story of luxury vehicle sales in the United States and overall vehicle sales in Canada at least so far as the first three quarters of 2009 - January 1st through September 30th. For example, this involves the Sales Stats of all minivans available for sale in Canada or an in-depth look at the Sales Stats of every single luxury SUV in America. As for SUVs, it's time for a look at the favoured sport-utes north of the 49th.

This comes only weeks after The Good Car Guy profiled the Honda CR-V; its status as the best-selling SUV in the United States; and why hundreds of thousands of American consumers will buy one in the 2010 model year, too. Curiously, Canadians don't take to the CR-V with the same fervour. In fact, more CR-Vs were sold in the U.S. in September alone than have been sold in Canada in the first nine months of 2009. Meanwhile, the third-best-selling SUV in America is by far and away the best-selling SUV in Canada. No other sport-ute even comes close. And the way the best-selling luxury SUV in America sneaks into the Top 5 overall SUV sales? That's not gonna happen in Canada.

Read on to discover the Top 5 Best-Selling SUVs In Canada and the Top 5 Best-Selling Luxury SUVs in Canada. Enjoy the fact that none of these vehicles are actually..... ya know, true sport-utility vehicles. And argue over GoodCarBadCar.net's inclusion of the Buick Enclave - it's priced at $43,505, after all. Don't like it? The sixth-place candidate is the Acura RDX at 2,195 sales through the first nine months of '09.

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BEST-SELLING LUXURY SUVs IN CANADA

#5- BMW X5: 2,401

#4- BUICK ENCLAVE: 2,889

#3- MERCEDES-BENZ GLK: 3,929

#2- ACURA MDX: 4,115

#1- LEXUS RX: 6,511

BEST-SELLING SUVs IN CANADA

#5- NISSAN ROGUE: 9,010

#4- HONDA CR-V: 14,373

#3- HYUNDAI SANTA FE: 18,530

#2- TOYOTA RAV4: 19,576

#1- FORD ESCAPE: 28,582

Does the Dodge Grand Caravan crush the minivan competition in Canada?

Which non-luxury brand brings a car into the best-selling luxury cars in Canada?

Check out the best-selling automotive brands in Canada

Can a jumbo luxo SUV out-sell the mod luxo cute-utes in the States?

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING LUXURY CARS IN CANADA THROUGH THE FIRST THREE QUARTERS OF '09

The base MSRP for the most expensive car Hyundai sells in Canada is $3,000 higher than the base price for BMW's 3-Series. Besides, the most expensive coupe version of that expensive Hyundai has an MSRP $300 higher than the least expensive sedan. So before you challenge The Good Car Guy on the merits behind luxury badges and the value in a premium nameplate, consider price as a defining characteristic of luxury.

If you're unwilling to accept a Korean vehicle in the list of the Top 5 Best-Selling Luxury Cars In Canada, hear ye this: the Acura has sold 2,610 TLs in Canada through the first three-quarters of 2009. Take note of this interesting fact while you're still addicted to Numbers: BMW has sold seven times more 3-Series units in the USA than in Canada so far this year though the more southern country has approximately ten times the population and, generally, sells a significantly higher proportion of its automobiles to luxury-seeking consumers. What's this mean? Canada loves'em some little Bimmers.

Without further ado, here are Canada's best-selling luxury cars in 2009 so far. Expect another report in mid-January. Click here for the best-selling car companies in Canada through September or here for the best-selling luxury automakers in Canada up to this point in '09.

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#5- HYUNDAI GENESIS: 2,801

#4- INFINITI G: 3,025

#3- AUDI A4: 3,371

#2- MERCEDES-BENZ C-CLASS: 5,666

#1- BMW 3-SERIES: 9,617

Check Out The BMW 3-Series In The Good 12 v2.0

Read About The Audi A4 Avant In The Good 12 v2.0

Learn More About The Hyundai Genesis In The Good 12 v2.0

The Inaugural Good 12 Showcased The Infiniti G

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING CARS IN AMERICA - SEPTEMBER 2009

In September, dominating Japanese automakers, not surprisingly, dominated the best-selling cars list in the USA. You've already seen how American manufacturers control the pickup truck market - these are the Top 5 Best-Selling Cars In America for September 2009. In the Graph below, the Sales Stats show one American car. Inspect the bracketed section more closely and you'll see that the one American car suffered a huge decline in sales compared with September of 2009, almost allowing a fifth Japanese car to knock it out of the Top 5. That car? Why, the Nissan Altima, which was sold to American consumers 12,149 times in September.

Don't be too saddened by the state of domestic manufacturers, however. The Ford Fusion (10,834) and Chevrolet Malibu (10,479) cracked the top 10 in September, along with the Toyota Prius (10,984) and Volkswagen Jetta (9,568). And the 11th, 12th, and 13th best-selling cars in America were the Ford Focus, Pontiac G6, and Chevrolet Camaro. Moreover, those four Japanese cars in the Top 5? They're manufactured right here in North America.

TOP 5 BEST-SELLING TRUCKS IN AMERICA - SEPTEMBER '09

25% sales drops aren't generally what you're looking for in a successful product. For Ford Motor Company, however, the 24.8% decline in year-to-date large pickup sales compared with the first three quarters of 2008 is only part of the story. Ford F-Series sales were higher in September of 2009 than in September of 2008. And before you start listening too closely too CNN Money on the topic of "Truck sales up means housing is rebounding means recession is over", pay close attention to the pitiful sales drops of the other best-selling pickup trucks in America. In the Graph below (click for larger view) you can see the total sales of the Top 5 Best-Selling Trucks In America for September 2009.

In brackets, the % shown reflects the increase or decrease compared with the same period last year. Displaying the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra's Sales Stats together as a General Motors tagteam is: a) more open and b) a way of showing Toyota Tundra sales.

BEST-SELLING AMERICAN SPORTS CARS? CAMARO TOPS MUSTANG IN SEPTEMBER - CORVETTE, CHALLENGER, VIPER WAY BACK

"No way, bloke. The 911 might be German and expensive; but it can be raced in a pinch and is a true sports car", says the Londoner as he walks out of the rural Northamptonshire pub and gets into his used Porsche Boxster. The conversation inside continues. "Ach, he's crazy. The 911's bloated. I want something tidy, something with character, like the modern equivalent to an old Triumph." A youngster then pipes up: "What about the MX-5, no?Good reliability and pretty small, ya must admit." Immediately shot down by the group's elder, an automotive know-it-all adds his two cents. "There's nothing - I say nothing - like the feel provided by the enigmatic but capable Jaguar E-Type. I'm a lover of the new XKR but yearn for natural aspiration, none of this supercharged stuff." Finally, the party's outsider, the fellow who lived in Boston while in uni, suggests the impossible: "There really isn't anything wrong with those American sports cars, ya know. I drove a Mustang once. They called it a Shelby something'er'other. A stonkin' fast ride around the block it'll give you."

He's greeted with silence. American sports cars? Yes, though the anecdote is fictional, the portrayal of the global view of GM, Ford, and Chrysler's sporting cars is spot-on, I do believe. Yet the Detroit Three build a quintet of crazy cars; cars unlike anything you'll find in British or German factories. Call them pony cars, muscle cars, fast cars or sports cars if you like - the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro, Ford Mustang and Dodge's Viper and Challenger are crazy wicked veehickles and Americans buy 'em with joy in their souls.

Of course, sales are lower these days. Recession '09 has sent the two more expensive models (Corvette and Viper) into a sales tailspin. Days of 1,000,000 Mustangs sold in 18 months are over. Settle for tens of thousands and you'll be okay. In Graph form below, check out the Sales Stats of these five cars in September and year-to-date (though the Camaro hasn't been on sale all year). You might be surprised.

TOP 10 BEST-SELLING AUTO BRANDS IN AMERICA FOR JULY OF 2009

Add up all the luxury vehicles sold in July by Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lincoln, Cadillac, Audi, Infiniti, Porsche, Saab, Hummer, Volvo, and Acura. Your total? Same as mine - 95,492. Obviously, this doesn't count sales of Jaguars and Land Rovers (because Tata doesn't like to share numbers) or the mega-expensive Ferraris and Bentleys. But all those automakers sell in lowly totals.

95,492 is an interesting total. See, that's fewer vehicles than Toyota managed to sell in July. In fact, 95,492 sales is less a total smaller than that achieved by Ford, Chevrolet, or Honda. The point? Cash For Clunkers (CARS.gov) no doubt helped the mainstream manufacturers at the end of the month more than it could the premium brands. Cars priced at $45,000 or above weren't included in the program. More importantly, the coverage you you see both here at GoodCarBadCar.net and in the mainstream automotive press skews heavily toward the outrageously expensive machinery. In reality, the twelve luxury brands mentioned above were outsold by the top twelve mainstream brands by 711,597 vehicles in July. That's without the 20,590 vehicles sold by Volkswagen, or the 16,549 of Chrysler's, the 5,968 Saturns sold, or the 19,032 Mazdas sold. Take a look at the Graph below to get a grasp of how big the big guns really are.

BOOMERANG TRACKING'S TOP 5 MOST STOLEN VEHICLES IN CANADA

If you've been an active member of The Good Car Nation this morning, you already know which car sits at the top of this list. Follow that link back to learn more about Boomerang Tracking and read below to learn about the most stolen vehicles in Canada. Since GoodCarBadCar.net loves Top 5 lists and Boomerang provides the Top 10, hear ye this: the '94 Dodge Shadow/Plymouth Sundance hatchback is likely part of the list because of its, shall we say, lack of security. Audi's 2000 TT Quattro sits at #9. The '98 Acura Integra is in the #8 spot. Numbers 7, 6, and 5 belong to variants of the '94 Dodge Caravan. 

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#4 - '94 ACURA INTEGRA: Loved by every tuner and appreciated by all for its quality, the Integra was a stellar car with multiple positive characteristics.

#3 - '04 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX & WRX STI: Early in its North American life, this turbocharged Japanese rally rocket was about as desirable a real-world car as could be found on the continent. Apparently thieves feel the same way as the rest of us.

#2 - '00 HONDA CIVIC SIR: While we joined with the Americans in naming the current Civic Si the, er... Civic Si; the previous generations were stuck with SiR north of the 49th. The good ol' Honda double wishbone front suspension with a high-revving inline-four that made VTEC a household brand was ripe for modification. This Civic was simply a very good car. So good in fact that slightly older models were ripe for thievery as well.

#1 - '99 HONDA CIVIC SIR: With prices for stock SiRs around $10,000 for a 10 year old car and not likely to budge anytime soon, one can understand - and still blame - auto thieves proclivity for jacking this Honda.