Sault Blog

In 1965, Canada and the United States of America (USA) signed the Auto Pact agreement, which was a “managed trade” agreement ensuring that the big three USA automotive firms had to produce in Canada as many cars as they sold in Canada – a condition that was successfully meet during the lifetime of the agreement. Canada was guaranteed never to see its industry downsized because of imports of cheaper-priced American-made cars. That changed after allowing Mexico into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992. The following brief sales report is the present state of vehicle sales by brand in Canada in 2024.

The Ford F-150 Series is Canada’s best-selling vehicle; Ford Canada sold 270,143 vehicles in 2024. The Ford Motor Company is a vehicle sales leader in Canada yet does NOT assemble a single vehicle in Canada. Ford assembles engines in Windsor and Essex and is slated to assemble the Super Duty line of trucks in Oakville, ON (2026). The Ford Motor Company of Canada imported more than a quarter million vehicles into Canada and did not assemble a single Ford vehicle in Canada in 2024.

Toyota Canada is the second best-selling vehicle brand in Canada, with 209,230 units sold, and Lexus 29,704 at 19th, totalling 238,934. Toyota Canada Mfg has two assembly plants: Cambridge and Woodstock, ON. Toyota Canada vehicle production numbers are RAV SUV 368,577 and Lexus RX/NX 165,007, totalling 533,584 vehicles produced in Canada. Toyota Canada outproduces what it sells in Canada by 294,650 units.

General Motors Canada (GMC) sales in Canada by brands are Chevrolet 154,107 at 3rd, GMC 100,203 at 6th, Buick 22,938 at 20th, and Cadillac 16,565 at 25th. Total sales of GMC vehicles in Canada for 2024 amounted to 293,813. GMC has one assembly plant in Oshawa, ON, producing the Chevrolet Silverado/HD, totalling 152,190 units in 2024. General Motors of Canada imports 141,623 more vehicles into Canada than it makes here. GMC does have a Brightdrop EV assembly plant in Ingersoll, ON.

Canadians purchased 135,692 Honda vehicles, at 5th place in 2024. Honda of Canada Mfg, Alliston, ON, has a single campus with three production lines currently being expanded to produce more hybrid and electric vehicles. The Alliston, ON plant produced 214,095 CRVs and 206,455 Civics, totaling 420,550 vehicles in 2024. The Honda Canada Alliston Assembly plant ships 79 percent of the vehicles it manufactures to the United States. Honda Canada Alliston produced 284,858 more vehicles than it sold in Canada in 2024.

Stellantis, N.V. sold 62,579 RAMs at 12th, Jeep 40,712 at 14th, Dodge 14,057 at 22nd, and Chrysler 10,494 at 25th, best-selling vehicles in Canada, totalling 127,842. Stellantis’ Windsor Assembly plant manufactured 159,170 Caravan/ Voyager mini-vans in 2024. The Assembly plant also produces the Dodge Charger. Stellantis produced 31,328 more vehicles than it sold in Canada.

The Korean auto giant Hyundai, at 4th place, sold 131,715 vehicles in Canada in 2024, and Kia, at 8th place, sold 86,657 vehicles. The Korean Chaebols sold 218,372 vehicles in Canada and did not assemble a single vehicle in Canada.

The German vehicle sales in Canada are VW 81,742 at 9th, Mercedes-Benz 33,531 at 16th, Audi 32,589 at 17th, BMW 28,511 at 19th, and Porsche 9,648 at 26th place in Canadian vehicle sales; a tidy sum of 104,288 German cars sold in Canada; with no Canadian assembly investment.

Other Japanese car companies selling vehicles in Canada include Nissan 96,792 at 7th, Mazda 72,226 at 10th, Subaru 68,043 at 11th, and Mitsubishi 35,993 at 15th, totalling 273,054, with no assembly plant in Canada.

Tesla Motors sold 62,374 at 16th, vehicles in Canada. Tesla does not have an assembly or battery parts plant in Canada.

China enters the Canadian sales market with Volvo 13,404 at 23rd, in Canadian vehicle sales. China’s BYD has a bus manufacturing plant in Markham, ON; however, at present there is no light vehicle assembly plant of any Chinese vehicle manufacturer in Canada.

Since Mexico joined NAFTA, automotive assembly and parts plants have migrated to Mexico for cheaper labour, lower production costs, and environmental standards. Canada produced almost 3 million vehicles yearly from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, dwindling to 1.3 million vehicles assembled in 2024. Mexico produced 4 million vehicles in 2024 compared to 1 million in 1992.

The 1992 NAFTA and 2018 CUSMA deals allowed vehicle assembly plants to move to Mexico, shifting vehicle production away from Canada. In 2024, Canadians purchased 1.86 million vehicles last year and produced 1.3 million, resulting in a production deficit of over 560,000 vehicles. In this new era of tariffs and a failed CUSMA deal, what is Canada going to do to protect its automotive production industry?

Thank you, The Expendables, Jeff Rubin, Clutch.ca, and Statistic Canada.
Mark Menean, http://www.saultblog.com