Chrysler Grabs Number One Spot In Canada

Chrysler is now the sales leader in Canada, nudging its way in the relatively small market past traditional industry leader General Motors, as well as rival Ford Motor Co. and Japanese giant Toyota. With its strong network of rural dealers, Chrysler Canada has reported its 40th consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth, representing the longest sales streak in the company’s history and the longest current streak in the industry. March 2013 sales were 24,173 compared with 22,703 vehicles sold in March, 2012, which represents a 6 percent increase.

The results maintain Chrysler Canada’s position as the number one seller of vehicles in the country for the first three months of 2013, and were all the more impressive because the popular Jeep brand is going through a major transition that has closed a key assembly plant in Toledo since Christmas. The Toledo North plant isn’t scheduled to reopen until May 23 – which led to a sharp drop in overall Jeep sales for March. In addition, the Jefferson North plant in Detroit, which builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee, is in the middle of a slow "ramp-up" of production for the updated 2014 Grand Cherokee.