Toyota Canada resumes production and distribution of recalled vehicles

Toyota Canada says it has resumed sales and deliveries of the eight models affected by a massive international recall. In fact, production resumed today on all production lines at Canadian Toyota manufacturing facilities.

The company says owners of affected vehicles can begin contacting their local dealership to get the defective pedal repaired.

Toronto dealership manager Dan Golightly says his service centre began repairing vehicles yesterday, and will have extended hours until the repairs are done.

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BMW Group Canada moves onto "Ultimate Drive"

How cool is the address "50 Ultimate Drive?" As of this week that's the new address of BMW Group Canada's national head-office.

The LEED Certified building (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is located in Richmond Hill, ON, about 30 minutes from their old office in Whitby, ON.

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And you thought smart cars were bad in the snow?

Walt Disney is frozen. Mixing pop rocks and coke causes an explosion. The smart is awful in the snow. Damn urban legends.

To quell concerns that the smart fourtwo can't handle a good ol' Canadian winter Mercedes-Benz Canada set-up a smart Winter Expedition. And we're not talking about a quick drive up to the cottage.

How does a 7550 km drive from British Columbia to the Artic Circle and back sound?

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Porsche plays king of the hill with new 911 Turbo S

500 horsepower. Is that a number that you could be satisfied with? It's a pretty nice round number, has a certain ring to it, and hints at what is probably a pretty quick vehicle. Bah, commonplace! And, if you're Porsche, 500 horsepower is so 2009 and this is a brand new year/decade, so what better way to ring in a new era than with a brand new trump card?

While the Porsche 911 Turbo is regarded in most circles as a capable and fearsome automobile, it's got a new big brother known as the Porsche 911 Turbo S that will come around your neighbourhood and terrorize your grandmother, just because it caught you looking at it.

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January 2010 Canadian auto sales up 6.2%

New vehicle sales in Canada rose 6.2% in January 2010 when compared with January 2009, but the sector is not yet back on track, according to industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers.

DesRosiers warned that the 6.2% rise for the month of January was compared to a very weak period in 2009, and said that he expected better numbers.

“A year ago, the January sales were down by about 25 per cent and the lowest sales in a decade, so most believed that this January would be back to more normal sales levels for this time of year,” he said, with sales expected in the 90,000 to 110,000 level.

“But at least sales were up slightly and January is the lowest absolute sales month each year, so you can’t read too much into this early market performance. March to June are the make-or-break months.”

Full details for January's sales numbers after the jump.

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GM Canada provides Vancouver Olympics with over 6,000 vehicles including 2 Volts

So now you know why GM went into bankruptcy last summer - they were giving away thousands of vehicles to the Vancouver Olympic Committee.

Since 2005 GM Canada has given over 6,000 new vehicles to the committee. Today about 4,600 of them, 2009 and 2010 models, are driving on roads in the Greater Vancouver Area. During the olympics they'll be used to shuttle athletes, VIPs and olympic staff.

So what are they driving?

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Toyota Canada sales down 10.4% last month

Toyota isn't use to being in the loser category. Heck, we're not use to seeing Toyota Canada in the loser category. But here we are.

And obviously the decision on January 26 to pull 8 models from production and the selling floor to address the sticky pedal issue impacted Toyota Canada's Jnuary results.

So what were the exact sales figures you ask? Follow the jump for all the info.

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Subaru the fastest growing Japanese automaker in Canada last month

Subaru Canada's hot streak knows no end. After a record year in 2009, Subaru has once again broken another monthly sales record and became the fastest growing Japanese automaker in this country. Last month Subaru Canada sold 1,729 units, an increase of 45.8% compared to January 2009.

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Mercedes-Benz Canada outsells BMW Canada by wide margin in January

Courtesy of Car and Driver

The sales tug-of-war between Mercedes-Benz Canada and BMW Canada is a never-ending battle and one of the first things I look at when monthly sales are released.

For most of last year BMW Canada had the upper hand on Mercedes-Benz Canada but MB closed the gap considerably in the second half of '09. Ultimately BMW outsold Mercedes-Benz by just 448 units (excluding smart and MINI).

But 2010 is a new year and in January alone the Mercedes-Benz brand outsold the BMW brand by 495 vehicles in Canada.

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Outstanding sales results for a company that really needs them. Chrysler Canada sales rise 20% in January.

I doubt that anyone reading this will disagree with me when I say that the last few years have been a little tough in the House of Chrysler in Windsor. Things are looking up, however. It was announced that Chrysler Canada’s Retail sales rose 20% in January, making them the 2nd highest selling Automaker in the Country.

Exciting stuff if you own a dealership with a pentastar hanging over the front door!

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