Toyota and Honda ahead of Ford and DiamlerChrysler in Canada

[LeMansX5]

This will be happen someday in US not too far in future.

Sales at Toyota, Honda overtake two of the Big Three

The old order that has dominated Canada's vehicle market for generations faded away in September as two of the once-mighty Big Three tumbled out of the top three rankings.

Toyota Canada Inc. and Honda Canada Inc. jumped into the second and third spots ahead of DaimlerChrysler Canada Ltd. and Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd., marking the first time both Japan-based companies have been in the top three.

Traditional leader General Motors of Canada Ltd. still tops the rankings with an 8-per-cent rise last month, but combined market share for the world's largest auto maker, Chrysler and Ford fell to less than 50 per cent in Canada last month for just the second time.

"This is a watershed moment in the history of the Canadian automotive sector," said analyst Dennis DesRosiers, who has been watching the industry for 20 years.

The strong showings by Honda and Toyota helped propel sales ahead by 9 per cent last month from year-earlier levels.
Last month's sales of 136,057 compare with the weak 124,447 performance a year earlier, but they still represent the first time this year that the industry has had two positive months in a row.
Chrysler, Ford and GM also posted sales increases, but they were outpaced by Honda, which rode a 46-per-cent surge to its best September on record.
Canadians bought a record 7,586 compact Civic cars last month.
That's more than twice as many Civics as Chrysler's total passenger car sales of 3,775 and more than Ford's car total of 4,154.
Toyota's sales jumped 12 per cent, giving it a record for September -- the ninth consecutive monthly record.
"The Japanese are benefiting from continuous improvement in their product, penetration of new segments of the market and a steady strengthening of their dealer bodies," said John Casesa, a veteran industry observer and managing partner of Casesa Shapiro LLC.
It's inevitable that Toyota's market share will grow in North America, Mr. Casesa added, because of Detroit's near-term strategy of shrinking in order to deal with a financial crisis.
Toyota was helped by a strong market in September in Canada, said Tony Wearing, managing director of Toyota Canada.
New products such as the mid-sized Camry and FJ sport utility vehicle have been well received, Mr. Wearing said, adding that Toyota has strong entries in two key markets in Canada -- subcompact and compact.
Neither Ford nor Chrysler has a subcompact to compete with Toyota's Yaris, the Honda Fit, the Versa from Nissan Canada Inc. and Chevrolet and Pontiac models from GM.
Source