Ford Canada's Sept. sales jump 64%

Ford Canada says strong demand for trucks boosted its overall September sales to 26,453 vehicles.

That's a 64 per cent increase from the same month a year earlier.

Ford's truck sales soared 81 per cent to their best September since 1955, while car sales climbed 15 per cent, the company said Friday.

GM Canada sold 17,885, down 24.3 per cent from a year earlier, and Toyota's Canadian sales were 14,563, a drop of 17 per cent.

Dennis DesRosiers of  DesRosiers Automotive Consultants said Ford's results show it has solidified its grasp on first place but that the numbers from Toyota and GM result in a "relatively poor overall market performance" for the industry.

DesRosiers said the use of incentives, which he described as "massive from a historical perspective." may be eroding profits and the strength of brands.

If not used selectively, he said, their use might distort sales enough that the market is in fact "seriously under performing relative to what it has done in the past."

Some incentives 'insane'

"For the most part the current incentives in the marketplace are insane," he told CBC News. 

Ford, Volkswagen and Audi, which have been "very smart" with their incentive programs, he said, are exceptions, but others seem almost "panic-driven."

He said in some cases Toyota's, GM's and Chrysler's have been "way over the top." 

Chrysler's Canadian sales eked out a 1.5 per cent gain, to 16,039.

Honda Canada's combined Honda and Acura September sales of 13,662 a 10 per cent increase.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Canada says it sold 10,406 vehicles last month, up 12.1 per cent.

Volkswagen sold 3,276, a drop of 6.6 per cent, while Audi's sales rose 18 per cent to 1,311.  

Three firms had their best September ever: Nissan Canada's sales were up 18.2 per cent to 8,548 vehicles, Kia Canada's reached 4745 units, up 5.1 per cent, and Porsche Cars Canada sold 166, a gain of 46 per cent.

Mazda's rose 6,881, or 5.5 per cent.

In the U.S., General Motors announced total sales of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac cars and light trucks increased 22 per cent in September to 172,969 units. Each brand saw sales increases of more than 21 per cent from September a year ago, led by Buick, where volume rose 96 per cent.

GM's U.S. sales fall from August

But GM's total sales fell about six per cent from August, which was one of the weakest on record. They rose 10.5 per cent over September of last year.

The gain from the previous September was expected, given demand a year ago was hurt by the end of the government's Cash for Clunkers rebate program.

Ford said its U.S. sales rose 46 per cent to 160,375 in September as it saw strong sales of redesigned cars and trucks.

Ford had expected sales to rise significantly from September 2009, when sales dropped as last summer's Cash for Clunkers program came to an end. 

But Ford said sales also rose two per cent from August. Its sales of the redesigned Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX set monthly records. The new subcompact Fiesta also drew buyers into showrooms.

Chrysler says its U.S. September sales of 100,077 showed a slight increase from August, bucking an industry trend toward slower sales in the fall.

Toyota says its U.S. September sales fell from the prior month as demand for its Lexus luxury models slipped. 

September sales fell about 1 per cent, weighed down by a 13 per cent drop in Lexus. The weaker performance by the high-end brand was offset by steady sales of Toyota brand cars and trucks.