Chrysler set a new Canadian sales record with its Town & Country minivan - shown rolling down a Canadian assembly line.
Chrysler Canada, with 39th consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases, is tightening its grip as the best-selling automaker in the vast market north of the U.S. border.
Chrysler has become the unlikely market leader in Canada, pushing past domestic rivals General Motors and Ford Motor Co., as well as key imports like Toyota and Honda, and it continues gaining ground, sales for February increasing by 2% to 16,832 vehicles.
That represent the company’s best sales total in Canada since February, 2000. The monthly increase also represent the longest positive sales streak in the company’s history and bolsters Chrysler Canada’s position as the number one seller.
”Our strong Ram truck sales fortify why the 2013 Ram 1500 recently received a triple crown win of prestigious automotive awards (North American Truck/Utility of the Year, Motor Trend Truck of the Year and Truck of Texas),” said Dave Buckingham, Chief Operating Officer, Chrysler Canada.
Increasing sales in Canada has been one of the many goals Sergio Marchionne has set for Chrysler Group.
(Marchionne at Geneva Motor Show wants Fiat/Chrysler merger completed ASAP. Click Here for that story.
Ram has been in major, full-growth mode lately with back-to-back introductions that started in autumn with the all-new Ram 1500 and, most recently, the all-new Ram 3500 Heavy Duty. In February 2013, Ram sales increased 8% and set a monthly sales record with 5,106 trucks sold, compared with 4,737 sold in February of 2012.
”Not to be outdone, our passenger car sales continue to perform equally strong, as evidenced by a 16% sales improvement compared to the same month, one year ago…thanks in great part to the Chrysler 200, Dodge Avenger, Fiat 500 and Dodge Dart,” said Buckingham.
Passenger car sales have been on the rise for Chrysler Canada since 2011, with annual year-over-year increases of 23% in 2011 and 33% in 2012 – well above the pace of the overall automotive recovery.
February 2013 saw an increase in passenger car sales of 16%, with 2,794 units sold, compared with 2,410 sold in the same month, one year ago. Chrysler’s midsize car sales continue to accelerate in the Canadian marketplace, with Dodge Avenger results soaring 65% compared with the same month in 2012.
A number of Chrysler models set all-time sales records in February, including the Jeep Wrangler and the Chrysler Town & Country minivan.
Chrysler produces all of its vans north of the border, at a plant in Detroit’s sister city of Windsor. Among the domestic makers, Chrysler has one of the heaviest manufacturing footprints, based on its overall size, in Canada.