Hyundai and Ford improve Canadian sales in January

Early Canadian auto sales results indicate economic conditions and demand for new vehicles continued to improve in the first month of 2010 – at least from some major automakers who reported Tuesday.

Hyundai Auto Canada reported its best January ever, selling more than 6,000 vehicles and beating last January's sales numbers by more than 32 per cent.

Last month was the 12th straight record month for the South Korean automaker, which saw a substantial gain in Canadian market share last year as it sold more than 100,000 vehicles in Canada for the first time ever.

Meanwhile, Ford Canada says its sales increased 6 per cent in January compared to a year earlier, marking the company's 15th straight month of market share gains.

Japanese automaker Honda didn't fare as well in January, with sales down 15 per cent year over year.

The rest of Canada's major automakers are expected to report their sales results later in the day.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Ford Motor Co.'s sales rose 25 per cent in January, buoyed by a stronger economy and Toyota's decision to halt U.S. sales of eight popular models because of faulty gas pedal systems.

Ford said Tuesday car sales rose 43 per cent while sales of trucks and SUVs climbed 15 per cent. The automaker also more than doubled sales to rental car agencies and other fleets as the credit crunch eased and businesses started spending again.

January is typically a weak month for U.S. auto sales, but automakers were expecting sales to improve over last January, when they dipped to a 26-year low because of the tough U.S. economy. Sales never really recovered last year, totaling 10.4 million cars and light trucks, the lowest since 1982.

Korean automaker Kia said its January U.S. sales were essentially flat. Other automakers, including Toyota, were scheduled to report results later Tuesday.

Ford was expecting to snatch some sales from Toyota, which stopped selling the Camry sedan and seven other cars and trucks on Jan. 26 following a recall over sticky accelerator pedals. Ford and General Motors are offering incentives to Toyota drivers who trade in vehicles.

Toyota has said dealers will get the parts to fix the problem by the end of this week, but in the meantime Toyota could lose thousands of sales in January and February. The recall affects 2.3 million cars and trucks in the U.S.

With files from Associated Press.

 

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