Small Car Sales In Canada – December 2015 And 2015 Year End

The Honda Civic was Canada’s best-selling small car in calendar year 2015 and thus the top-selling car in its compact segment for an 18th consecutive year. Civic sales decreased 2% in 2015, a year-over-year decline of 1107 sales for Honda’s Canadian dealers, but most Civic rivals fared far worse.

Segment-wide compact car volume slipped 6% in Canada in 2015 as top sellers like the Mazda 3 (down 15%), Chevrolet Cruze (down 7%), and Volkswagen Jetta (down 11%) all suffered worse-than-average losses.

Canada Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model – 2015 Year End
Canada Car Sales Rankings By Model – 2015 Year End

The Civic’s market share rose nearly a percentage point to 18.4% in 2015 from 17.6% in 2014 despite its volume decline. Exceptions to the compact category decline included the Volkswagen Golf, which wasn’t thoroughly available for much of 2014, and the Subaru Impreza, which posted a meaningful 1269-unit improvement across the Impreza and WRX/STI lineup.

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Subcompact car sales in Canada, meanwhile, tumbled by a quarter as nearly every nameplate in the category took part in the segment’s downfall. Only the premium-priced Toyota Prius C posted improved sales, and its gain totalled only 253 extra units.

Sales of the class-leading Hyundai Accent were down only 16%. The Chevrolet Sonic, Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit, Kia Rio, discontinued Mazda 2, and Nissan Versa all posted sharper decreases.

You can click any model name in the tables below to find historical monthly and yearly Canadian auto sales data. You can also select a make and model at GCBC’s Sales Stats page. These tables are now sortable, so you can rank small cars of all kinds any which way you like. Suggestions on how GCBC should break down segments can be passed on through the Contact page.

Click Column Headers To Sort • December 2016 • November 2015 • December 2014

Compact	December 2015	December 2014	% Change	2015	2014	% Change
Acura ILX *	267	163	63.8%	2551	2752	-7.3%
Buick Verano *	424	347	22.2%	6360	7161	-11.2%
Chevrolet Cruze	1706	2594	-34.2%	31,958	34,421	-7.2%
Dodge Dart	144	325	-55.7%	3061	7623	-59.8%
Ford Focus	1033	1426	-27.6%	21,101	22,392	-5.8%
Honda Civic	3987	4031	-1.1%	64,950	66,057	-1.7%
Hyundai Elantra	2054	2641	-22.2%	47,722	50,420	-5.4%
Kia Forte	391	588	-33.5%	11,378	11,867	-4.1%
Mazda 3	2078	2156	-3.6%	34,811	40,974	-15.0%
Mitsubishi Lancer	444	361	23.0%	6008	6623	-9.3%
Nissan Sentra	887	949	-6.5%	14,940	15,021	-0.5%
Scion iM	179	—	—	943	—	—
Subaru Impreza	705	714	-1.3%	11,426	10,157	12.5%
Toyota Corolla	2280	2409	-5.4%	47,198	48,881	-3.4%
Toyota Matrix	—	215	-100%	295	7130	-95.9%
Volkswagen Golf	1615	1246	29.6%	20,515	12,184	68.4%
Volkswagen Jetta	1411	1717	-17.8%	27,719	31,042	-10.7%
—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	19,605	21,882	-10.4%	352,936	374,705	-5.8%

Subcompact	December 2015	December 2014	% Change	2015	2014	% Change
Chevrolet Sonic	301	655	-54.0%	5763	8036	-28.3%
Ford Fiesta	495	630	-21.4%	5646	9312	-39.4%
Honda Fit	455	898	-49.3%	9088	11,732	-22.5%
Hyundai Accent	706	1399	-49.5%	19,371	23,173	-16.4%
Kia Rio	408	506	-19.4%	9761	14,458	-32.5%
Mazda 2	3	147	-98.0%	761	2449	-68.9%
Nissan Versa	443	611	-27.5%	9120	13,314	-31.5%
Toyota Prius C	78	160	-51.3%	3029	2776	9.1%
Toyota Yaris	428	361	18.6%	8196	8530	-3.9%
—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	3317	5367	-38.2%	70,735	93,780	-24.6%

City Car	December 2015	December 2014	% Change	2015	2014	% Change
Chevrolet Spark	53	27	96.3%	1561	1577	-1.0%
Mitsubishi Mirage	159	271	-41.3%	3361	4048	-17.0%
Nissan Micra	747	828	-9.8%	11,909	7815	52.4%
Scion iQ	24	9	167%	277	315	-12.1%
Smart Fortwo	36	205	-82.4%	716	2550	-71.9%
—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	1019	1340	-24.0%	17,824	16,305	9.3%

Warm Hatches	December 2015	December 2014	% Change	2015	2014	% Change
Fiat 500 *	129	228	-43.4%	2955	5566	-46.9%
Hyundai Veloster *	96	109	-11.9%	2971	3444	-13.7%
Mini Cooper *	441	360	22.5%	5638	3597	56.7%
Scion tC *	54	48	12.5%	1135	1179	-3.7%
Volkswagen Beetle *	76	153	-50.3%	2347	2044	14.8%
—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	796	898	-11.4%	15,046	15,830	-4.9%

Tall Hatchbacks & Crossovers	December 2015	December 2014	% Change	2015	2014	% Change
Buick Encore *	285	647	-56.0%	4915	5683	-13.5%
Chevrolet Trax *	590	470	25.5%	8156	8533	-4.4%
Fiat 500L	69	203	-66.0%	1948	2461	-20.8%
Fiat 500X *	56	—	—	609	—	—
Honda HR-V *	779	—	—	8959	—	—
Kia Soul	812	614	32.2%	13,335	9944	34.1%
Mazda CX-3 *	687	—	—	6861	—	—
Mercedes-Benz B-Class *	169	181	-6.6%	2356	2695	-12.6%
Mini Countryman *	84	95	-11.6%	1412	1786	-20.9%
Mitsubishi RVR *	364	429	-15.2%	5786	6594	-12.3%
Nissan Cube	—	—	—	2	15	-86.7%
Nissan Juke *	271	178	52.2%	4473	3641	22.9%
Scion xB	27	35	-22.9%	948	651	45.6%
Scion xD	—	5	-100%	27	258	-89.5%
Subaru XV Crosstrek *	599	349	71.6%	8422	6922	21.7%
—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Total	4792	3206	49.5%	68,209	49,183	38.7%

Source: Automakers & Global Automakers Of Canada
* indicates a vehicle which is also shown in another GCBC segment breakdown.
GCBC isn’t here to break down segments, an impossible task for any group, but to display sales data for the sake of comparison. The more ways sales data can be displayed, the better. This explains why you’ll see the Encore and XV Crosstrek are listed with small SUVs, too, and the Acura ILX shown with mainstream cars is also displayed with luxury cars… because readers have wanted it both ways. You can always find the sales results for EVERY vehicle and form your own competitive sets by using the All Vehicle Rankings posts.

RECOMMENDED READING
Small Car Sales In Canada – December & 2016 Year End
Small Car Sales In Canada – November 2015 YTD
Small Car Sales In Canada – December 2014 & Year End
Top 25 Best-Selling Cars In Canada – 2015 Year End
Canada Auto Sales Brand Rankings – 2015 Year End