The Toyota Corolla was the best-selling vehicle in Canada last year, dethroning the Honda Civic that had claimed the top spot for each of the past 24 years.
Sales figures reveal that Toyota sold 33,096 Corolla models in Canada throughout 2022 compared to the 29,772 Honda Civics that sound homes across the country. These figures came despite Corolla sales falling by 17 per cent compared with a year ago and Civic sales dropping by some 31 per cent.
Vice president of global forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, Sam Fiorani, says the larger range of Corolla models on offer has boosted sales beyond those of the Civic.
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“A wider range of models, including one with a lower base price than any Civic and an AWD model, makes the range more appealing to Canadian buyers,” Fiorani told Auto News.
Toyota Canada vice president of sales and marketing, Cyril Dimitris, added that the automaker has been able to keep the Corolla fresh.
“I personally think we’ve done a great job at keeping this product refreshed,” he said. “And that means new powertrains, different powertrains, new features. We’ve added all-wheel drive to the vehicle. It comes in a hybrid. It comes in new body styles. Most recently, we’ve injected some energy into the Corolla brand with GR Corolla. When you do those things, we feel we’re appealing to a broader and broader audience. And we feel there is a Corolla for just about anybody.”
Dimitris noted that Toyota Canada didn’t set out to dethrone the Honda Civic and that instead, it is simply about “trying to eke out every product we can sell, every vehicle we can sell and get it to customers.”
Honda Civic sales fell in part due to a 23 per cent drop in production triggered by the semiconductor shortage and COVID-19 related issues.
