Canada is becoming a nation of small car buyers as the average disposable income declines relative to the paycheck of the typical U.S. consumer.
The trend has made a market leader of Japanese car maker Honda, putting it ahead of top rival Toyota "one of few places in the world where this occurs," according to a study released Thursday.
The study, by Dominion Bond Rating Service, examined trends in the automotive industry. It found that North American car makers are suffering from the Asian invasion.
Ford particularly is "surprisingly weak" in Canada. Its share of the market dropped from 23 per cent in 1996 to less than 16 per cent this year.
The study found that the Canadian market "features on average much smaller cars" than in the United States "due to lower average disposable incomes in Canada versus the U.S."
Ford, as well as Detroit peers General Motors and DaimlerChrysler, are losing market share to overseas-based competitors and suffering from weak profit margins as they offer incentives to spur sales, heavy pension liabilities and other post-retirement employee benefits.
GM's share of the Canadian market has held up fairly well. It was down from 32.1 per cent in 1996 to around 30 per cent this year.
DaimlerChrysler's share has fallen to about 15 per cent from 20.3 per cent.
Honda is the top Japanese auto company in Canada, with a market share of 9.6 per cent compared with 6.3 per cent in 1996.
Toyota is down over the past four years to 7.8 per cent from 9.2 per cent.
Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, BMW, Volkswagen/Audi and Nissan are growing fastest in Canada, though the market remains dominated by the Big Three, with 61.2 per cent of total new-vehicle sales.
The trend has made a market leader of Japanese car maker Honda, putting it ahead of top rival Toyota "one of few places in the world where this occurs," according to a study released Thursday.
The study, by Dominion Bond Rating Service, examined trends in the automotive industry. It found that North American car makers are suffering from the Asian invasion.
Ford particularly is "surprisingly weak" in Canada. Its share of the market dropped from 23 per cent in 1996 to less than 16 per cent this year.
The study found that the Canadian market "features on average much smaller cars" than in the United States "due to lower average disposable incomes in Canada versus the U.S."
Ford, as well as Detroit peers General Motors and DaimlerChrysler, are losing market share to overseas-based competitors and suffering from weak profit margins as they offer incentives to spur sales, heavy pension liabilities and other post-retirement employee benefits.
GM's share of the Canadian market has held up fairly well. It was down from 32.1 per cent in 1996 to around 30 per cent this year.
DaimlerChrysler's share has fallen to about 15 per cent from 20.3 per cent.
Honda is the top Japanese auto company in Canada, with a market share of 9.6 per cent compared with 6.3 per cent in 1996.
Toyota is down over the past four years to 7.8 per cent from 9.2 per cent.
Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, BMW, Volkswagen/Audi and Nissan are growing fastest in Canada, though the market remains dominated by the Big Three, with 61.2 per cent of total new-vehicle sales.
