TORONTO - Canadian vehicles sales rose slightly in September as the end of consumer incentives took their toll on some automakers and hefty truck sales boosted others.
Overall, 135,098 light vehicles were sold in Canada last month, a gain of 4.3 per cent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants on Friday.
Light trucks -- including sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks -- fared better than their smaller counterparts, with sales up 21.6 per cent to 75,442. Meanwhile, passenger car sales dropped 11.6 per cent to 59,656.
General Motors took the biggest hit of the major automakers as September sales fell 24.1 per cent to 17,885 vehicles.
The company attributed the drop to the end of its employee pricing offer, which gave customers the same discount that GM employees receive.
"Our sales grew 17 per cent this quarter, and clearly September's results were impacted by the end of the GM employee pricing event in August," said Marc Comeau, GM Canada's vice-president of sales, service and marketing.
GM also pointed out that last September's results were boosted by "major clearance efforts" for brands like Pontiac that were discontinued as the company underwent a massive restructuring.
Sales of GM's core brands -- the ones that weren't discontinued during its restructuring, including Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac -- fell 8.4 per cent.
Higher incentives from most automakers have been keeping prices low, pushing consumers into bigger and more expensive vehicles. Sales of pickup trucks, SUVs and crossovers have soared in recent months as customers upgraded their purchases and businesses restocked their fleets.
"Given the level of incentives one could actually conclude that the market is seriously underperforming relative to what it has done in the past," industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers wrote in a commentary.
"Some (automakers) are hugely profitable but most are losing money with this incentive game so it is inevitable that incentives will come back to more normal levels and when they do look for the market to correct accordingly."
At Ford Canada strong demand for trucks boosted the automaker's overall September sales by 63.9 per cent to 26,450 vehicles.
Ford's truck sales soared 81 per cent to their best September on record since 1955, while car sales climbed 15 per cent.
Toyota also reported strong truck and SUV sales, setting a new September record with 7,329 units sold. However, the company continued to take a beating from a spate of recalls over the past year, with overall September sales falling 17.5 per cent to 13,258. Sales at Toyota's luxury Lexus division were down 13.2 per cent to 1,305.
Chrysler Canada sold 16,039 vehicles in September, up 1.5 per cent from a year ago, boosted by a 131 per cent increase in sales of its Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.
"Calendar year to date Chrysler Canada has gained more market share than any other automaker in Canada," Reid Bigland, president and CEO of Chrysler Canada, said in a statement.
Honda's sales were up 8.3 per cent to 12,303 vehicles, led by record sales of the CR-V sport utility vehicle and an increase in trucks sold. The Japanese automaker's Acura division reported sales of 1,460, up 29.5 per cent.
Hyundai Canada sold 10,406 vehicles last month, up 12.1 per cent from a year ago. It was the South Korean automaker's 20th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.
Nissan Canadas's sales were up 18.3 per cent to 7,798 vehicles, while its Infiniti luxury brand sold 750 vehicles, up 17.4 per cent. Overall, Nissan said last month was the best September in its history.
Mercedes-Benz saw Canadian sales of 2,458, up 9.3 per cent, while BMW's sales gained 8.3 per cent to 2,602.
Volkswagen sold 3,276 vehicles in September, down 6.6 per cent, while Audi's sales rose 18 per cent to 1,311.
Kia sold 4,745 vehicles, up 5.1 per cent, while Mazda sales gained 5.5 per cent to 6,881, Mitsubishi sales were down 20.9 per cent to 1,373 and Subaru sold 2,447 vehicles, down 3.8 per cent.
In terms of year-to-date market share, Ford took first place with 17.4 per cent of the market; GM was second with 15.6 per cent; Chrysler was third with 13.2 per cent; Toyota was fourth with 11.2 per cent; and Honda was fifth with 8.6 per cent.
In the U.S., sales rose significantly from last September, but that was expected. The government's Cash for Clunkers rebate program, which ran during the summer of 2009, drew buyers who otherwise would have waited until later in the year, and sales fell in the latter part of 2009 as a result.
