Driving By Numbers: Canada's 10 best-selling SUVs and crossovers in 2021's first-half

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There’s an incredibly important backdrop painted behind a list of Canada’s 10 best-selling SUVs and crossovers. It’s a backdrop covered in numbers that we must understand before considering just how successful Canada’s most popular utility vehicles became, in 2021’s first six months.

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Nearly half a million SUVs/crossovers were sold in 2021’s first-half. That’s a 54 per cent increase compared with 2020’s first-half. Why is that 54-per cent figure so consequential? On the whole, auto sales are up only 33 per cent, and all non-SUV categories — all of the cars, trucks, and vans — are up just 14 per cent. These are important figures.

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Those figures explain why, after a 2020 first-half in which SUVs/crossovers drove their market share up to a mighty 48 per cent, SUVs and crossovers have since soared to 56 per cent of all auto sales. That 8-point gain over the span of just one year is, to be frank, outrageous. Unpredictable. It took half a decade for the previous 8-point increase.

What’s driving the increase? Certainly the mainstreamification of premium brand SUVs plays a role. Collectively, luxury brands are now selling more than 15,000 SUVs/crossovers per month in Canada. The sheer number of options is a factor, as well. Over the last year, we’ve seen new introductions such as the Ford Bronco, Bronco Sport, and Mustang Mach-E; Genesis GV70 and GV80; Infiniti QX55; Jeep Grand Wagoneer; Land Rover Defender; Toyota Venza; and Volkswagen Taos. But the real kicker is the extraordinary volume of Canada’s top sellers, largely a group of very established movers and shakers.

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More than one-third of all SUV/crossover sales originate in this group of 10 best sellers. The top 4 alone account for more than a fifth of the Canadian market’s SUV/crossover volume. These are all-conquering giants making hay in a hot market that’s eating up utility vehicles faster than they can be made.

10. Nissan Kicks: 9,628, up 82 per cent

The Kicks position in the 10th slot, and its slim 25-unit lead over the 11th-ranked SUV, adds insult to injury for those who believe SUVs are rough and tumble off-roaders. The Kicks is a front-wheel-drive-only vehicle; the 11th-ranked SUV/crossover is an icon of the SUV world: the Jeep Wrangler. Regardless of your feelings toward the Kicks classification, it represents a meaningful shift in the market at large. Compared with 9,628 copies of the Kicks, Nissan sold a grand total of 8,579 passenger cars in 2021’s first-half, including only 1,802 entry-level Versa sedans.

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9. Toyota Highlander: 10,403, up 108 per cent

Not only is the Toyota Highlander now Canada’s best-selling three-row utility vehicle, it’s Canada’s top-selling three-row vehicle, full stop. No minivan even comes close. The Highlander’s extraordinary resale value and quality execution make this an obvious choice for so many families in the way the Camry was once a default choice. (The Highlander outsells the Camry by a 1.7-to-1 margin.) In this segment, Ford’s Explorer is the second choice with 8,358 sales in 2021’s first-half.

8. Subaru Crosstrek: 10,872, up 114 per cent

The Crosstrek trails its rival, the Hyundai Kona, by nearly 5,000 sales. Yet as the No.2 competitor in one of the fastest-growing segments of the market, the Crosstrek is quite obviously a major player. Originally just an offshoot of the Impreza hatch, the Crosstrek is now Subaru’s best seller. In fact, the Crosstrek outsells Subaru’s next two best sellers (Forester and Outback) combined.

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7. Ford Escape: 12,358, up 21 per cent

There are two ways to look at Ford’s performance with the latest Escape. First, it’s disappointing: sure, the Escape is among Canada’s top sellers, but it’s far from the No.1 slot it consistently claimed prior to 2016. In a market that’s bouncing back rapidly, the Escape is losing market share. On the other hand, the Escape is only one aspect of Ford’s effort in this segment. Combined, the Escape and closely related Bronco Sport collected 16,640 first-half sales, a noteworthy 63-per cent year-over-year improvement.

6. Hyundai Tucson: 13,460, up 49 per cent

If half a decade ago Hyundai appeared to be responding too slowly to the market’s clear SUV directions, it’s clear now that Hyundai caught wind of the trend. The latest Tucson, Hyundai’s fourth iteration, reported an 81-per cent uptick in the second-quarter of 2021 and joined a five-member SUV/crossover lineup that produced 27,644 sales in total, a 79-per cent year-over-year rise.

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5. Mazda CX-5: 14,127, up 53 per cent

Mazda’s first-half growth propelled the brand to 4 per cent market share in 2021 primarily on the strength of its four crossovers. Over half of Mazda’s CX sales are produced by this CX-5. Mazda Canada’s best CX-5 sales year was 2019, when 27,696 were sold. That record would surely fall in 2021 were it not for second-half inventory constraints that are likely to cause too much interference.

4. Hyundai Kona: 15,715, up 67 per cent

Undoubtedly defined as a simple hatchback in prior eras, the Hyundai Kona’s heavy cladding and all-wheel-drive variants (along with the market’s paradigm shift) cause the Kona to slot into the modern industry as a crossover. In its subcompact segment, the Kona is Canada’s favourite by a wide margin. That’s a segment that barely earned a mention a decade ago. Yet in the second-quarter of 2021, 11.5 per cent of the vehicles sold in Canada were subcompact crossovers.

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3. Nissan Rogue: 17,462, up 77 per cent

After a few years of turmoil, Nissan is bouncing back thanks to the strength of the third iteration of its best-selling model, the Rogue. Now rid of bland styling and free from a poorly executed continuously variable transmission that defined the already-popular second-gen Rogue, the new version is definitely a hot seller. Keep in mind, the Rogue is the donor vehicle behind Mitsubishi’s new Outlander, sales of which jumped 116 per cent in the second-quarter.

2. Honda CR-V: 26,716, up 51 per cent

Due for an overhaul within the next year, Honda’s Canadian-built CR-V is now clearly established as Honda’s top seller. Combined, Honda’s other models (Accord, Civic, Clarity, Fit, Insight, Hr-V, Odyssey, Passport, Pilot, Ridgeline) were up just 7 per cent during a first-half in which auto sales spiked 33 per cent. The CR-V isn’t just Honda’s new No.1, it’s Honda’s hugely important No.1: four out of every ten Hondas sold is now a CR-V.

1. Toyota RAV4: 37,908, up 84 per cent

The RAV4’s advantages in 2021 are numerous. It’s the established best seller, with five consecutive years atop the podium. There are three powertrain options, including popular hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants — top-tier competitors offer no such thing. And the Canadian-built RAV4 simply isn’t dealing with supply/inventory issues to the same degree as many rivals. As a result, the lead built up by the RAV4 through the first-half of 2021, is almost certainly insurmountable.