CarCostCanada's December 2020 Top 10 Vehicles Sold Report

Adding salt to wound, one of the automaker’s top rivals, Honda, claimed the highest position on the podium after the CR-V’s meteoric rise from sixth place last month. The CR-V’s December sales of 12,014 units nearly mirrored those of the RAV4’s 12,444 October results, but where the latest iteration of Toyota’s compact SUV is relatively new, having been completely redesigned in 2019, Honda’s category challenger dates back to November of 2016. As it is, December’s freakish sales tally reflected a rocket-like 211.4-percent increase month-over-month (MoM), while the compact crossover’s year-over-year (YoY) gains were an even more mind-blowing 354.9 percent.

As if that wasn’t good enough (or bad enough from Toyota’s perspective), Honda’s Civic was Canada’s second-best-selling vehicle in December, not to mention our market’s best-selling car, knocking the Corolla from this latter perch, as well as the entire top-10 list, in the process. With 9,968 deliveries to its name, Civic sales rose 198.2 percent MoM, and (wait for it) 390.3 percent YoY. Can you imagine the New Year’s Eve party Honda must have thrown after these results came in (even if it was on zoom)?

Joining Toyota’s blue Christmas breakdown, Ford saw its normally best-selling F-Series pickup slip from second to third overall, albeit still number one amongst full-size trucks. The downturn was the result of 9,160 deliveries, but Oakville’s blue-oval gang will hardly be sobbing due to 39.1 percent more buyers than it had last month, plus a 49.5-percent increase over what it managed in December of 2019.

Ford also witnessed November mayhem in the rest of the full-size truck market, with Ram’s Pickup nudged down from third to fifth (it normally places second), Chevrolet’s Silverado slipping from fifth to 10th, and GMC’s Sierra sliding off the top-10 best-seller’s list completely. Still, Fiat-Chrysler would have been pleased that its Ram Pickup found 39.1 percent more MoM buyers in December, resulting in 7,879 unit-sales, plus a gain of 19.0 percent YoY, while GM’s sole survivor wound up with 5,661 new owners for identical MoM growth, and even better YoY gains of 90.6 percent.

The rest of the field was like a stocking stuffer surprise, with the Mazda CX-5 jumping from ninth to fourth in a single month, plus both the Hyundai Kona and the Korean manufacturer’s slightly larger Tucson back on the top-10 list in sixth and seventh places overall, while Subaru’s Crosstrek made an eye-opening appearance in eighth. The CX-5 won over a total of 7,922 zoom-zoom fans, representing MoM growth of 190.2 percent, and even stronger YoY gains of 376.9 percent, whereas the Kona and Tucson’s respective 7,027 and 6,892 deliveries reflected YoY increases of 346.8 and 274.8 percentage points apiece. The Crosstrek, on the other hand, amassed 6,769 new sales in December, resulting in an amazing 467.4-percent YoY upsurge, which has to have made previously noted Toyota’s ninth-place RAV4 feel a bit unpopular, especially after factoring in that its 6,308 deliveries resulted in a MoM drop of 36.5 percent, although its YoY increase of 68.7 percent can hardly be seen as bad.

All in all, top-10 sales were up significantly in December, both for MoM and YoY, which should have all automakers feeling a bit more bullish heading into 2021.