Scoreboard: Canadian auto sales continue to tank

Is anyone surprised The General's sales in January were down 46.6 per cent? Chrysler down by 37.1?

As a struggling automaker, I guess going to the taxpayer with cap-in-hand will get you some short term cash, but it seemingly does nothing for longterm consumer confidence.

While new car sales in Canada in January were down by 25.3 per cent compared to the same time last year, it seems that for those who absolutely, positively must buy a new car (and have the cash or financing lined up to do it), are turning to cheap 'n cheerful import brands: Hyundai up 18.9 per cent; Mitsubishi up 9.1; Suzuki up 4.3; Kia up 0.9 percent ...

Here's the scoreboard for January's Canadian Winners and Losers followed by the usual pithy comments:   

Automaker    2009/2008/'09 to '08 change

Acura   1,099/1,488/-26.1% - Right in line with the industry drop
Audi    388/573/-32.3% - Whoa! Huge drop from December
BMW    880/1,102/-20.1% - Another bummer month for Bimmer sales
Chrysler    11,170/16,836/-33.7%  - What me worry? Will be selling Fiat 500s soon, right?
Ford    10,901/12,708/-14.2% - Town Car sales up 300%? Fuhgeddaboutit!!
General Motors    14,902/26,404/-46.6% - Could be worse: U.S. sales down 49%
Honda    6,460/10,534/-38.7% - Too pricey? Older models too durable?
Hyundai    4,607/3,874/18.9% - Outselling Nissan
Infiniti    392/538/-27.1% - As expected
Jaguar    40/36/11.1% - After the new XF sells have been satiated, then what?
Kia    1,825/1,808/0.9% - New Soul and Spectra replacement should keep the momentum up
Land Rover    145/204/-28.9% -  Surprised? Then I have some land in Renfrew you may be interested in...
Lexus    588/906/-35.1% - Ouch!
Mazda    4,150/4,732/-12.3% - Relative to the industry, not bad
Mercedes-Benz    1,178/1,068/10.3% -  Stuttgart gang spanking other premium brands
MINI    88/157/-43.9% - New ragtop in spring will boost sales
Mitsubishi    1,099/1,007/9.1% - Nice start to the year
Nissan    3,867/4,536/-14.7% - See Mazda
Porsche    88/123/-28.5% - Porsche blames poor economy and Boxster/Cayman model changeover

Saab    55/105/-47.6% - Is euthanasia the only solution?
smart    90/236/-61.9% -   Directly related to the (relatively) low price of pump fuel
Subaru   1,186/1,202/-1.3% - AWD. Winter in Canada. Oh, I get it...
Suzuki    602/577/4.3% - Again: bad economic times helping cheap 'n cheerful lineup
Toyota    9,681/9,653/0.3% - (Barely) hanging on in the Green
Volkswagen    1,893/1,923/-1.6% - Could be worse (see Saab, Volvo, Acura...)
Volvo    6,507/8,874/-26.7% - When does the Chinese cavalry arrive?

Total 2009/2008 Light Vehicle Sales 76,850/102,831/-25.3%

[Source: DesRosiers]