In case you’re all wondering why I’m so blasé about compact hatchbacks and wagons, a good chunk of it has to do with the fact that I see them everywhere, every single day (the other portion is simply because it’s fun to needle you folks every now and then).
Sales analyst Timothy Cain has compiled Canadian sales data for the halfway mark of 2012, and of the top 10 cars on sale, 9 of them are compacts, and four of them offer a hatchback variant (not including the soon-to-be-sold Hyundai Elantra GT). The top three best-sellers, the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Corolla are currently offered only with sedan variants, but that will change with the introduction of the Elantra GT and Elantra Coupe.
The previous Elantra Touring was a big hit in Canada, and the Elantra GT should be as well, bringing the fight directly to the #4 Mazda3 and #5 Ford Focus. We don’t have the exact hatch/sedan breakdown, but anecdotal evidence tells us that the Mazda3 is more evenly split, while the Focus, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Accent tend to skew more towards the hatchback. When the two-door and hatchback versions of the Elantra go on sale, Canada’s best-selling car might be Korean for the first time ever. Of course, the best-selling vehicle will likely remain unchanged; the Ford F-Series. Canada and the United States aren’t so different after all.
Canada. It’s America, without the crazy.
I’ll concede that there’s little point in being proud of the US that elected Obama, but Canada is not the place your bong is telling you it is.
Don’t you mean President Cheney, er Bush?
Thanks, CJ, for illustrating AR’s remark about the crazy.
I am continually amazed at the stupidity of GM for not offering the Chevy Cruze hatchback and wagon here in North America. I bet the addition of those two bodystyles would make Chevy number one in the compact car segment.
They will shortly be bringing the Cruze hatchback to Canada, from what I’ve heard.
” the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra and Toyota Corolla are currently offered only with sedan variants”
Wait, what? I see the Civic Coupe is sold in Canada, and doesn’t Toyota lump Matrix sales in with the Corolla like they do here in the States?
Toyota Canada separates out sales of the Matrix and Corolla.
For what it’s worth, the Elantra GT and Coupe are in showrooms right now. I’m not sure either will be massive sellers (the GT looks to be slightly less practical than the outgoing Elantra Touring), but they certainly won’t hurt.
I think the GT will do fairly well; the Canadians like their more premium hatches and the GT is an all around nicer vehicle than the Elantra sedan.
You may be right – I’m going off the extremely unscientific observation that I feel like the wagony Elantra Touring is much more common in the Toronto area than the previous Elantra GT (from 2004 or so) ever was. In addition, the Protege5 and Mazda3 hatch are some of the more ubiquitous 5-doors.
Then again, the new Focus, which is distinctly a hatch, seems to be doing fairly well. I’ll certainly be pleased if us Canuckians embrace the new Elantra GT.
I can only apologize to our Northern neighbors for our anti hatch bias cutting down their choices. I can explain it, but it doesn’t make sense to me.
Wasn’t the Hyundai Pony the first Korean car to be a best seller in Canada?