CUVs to rule the market by 2016: RVI

Dealers should get used to seeing crossover utility vehicles crowd their lots as data provided by Rene Abdalah of RVI shows the mid-sized utility units will make up 25 per cent of Canada’s model offerings by 2016.

“This is where we are seeing the most growth,” Abdalah told the gathering on the first day of the Auto Remarketing Canada Conference and Expo in downtown Toronto.

Data he offered indicated that of the 313 total vehicle models forecasted for the Canadian market by 2016, as many as 82 will be CUVs. Currently there are 291 models available in Canada with 62 different CUVs.

The growth, he said, comes from nearly every corner with traditionally higher-end automakers like Porsche, Saab and Land Rover expected to release CUVs in Canada in the next few years.

CUVs, he said, will account for 25 per cent of the sales market by the end of 2011.

Hyundai currently sits atop the industry in terms of CUV market share in Canada with 3.2 per cent. Ford and Kia are second and third respectively with 3.0 and 1.8 per cent of the market.