Ford is an iconic brand with deep roots in Canada. In fact, Ford Motor Company of Canada was founded in August 1904, barely more than a year after Henry Ford started his car company. It’s no surprise that Ford vehicles are very popular in Canada. In some parts of the country, it seems like half the vehicles you see on the road are Ford F-150s.
The company had a particularly strong year in 2019, taking Canada’s top spot for most vehicles sold, according to statistics from the Global Automakers of Canada. Ford sold 60,582 units in 2019 to beat out its competitors. About half of that number was solely from sales of the extremely popular F-150.
It turns out that the Ford brand was also the most common vehicle brand retired through the Retire Your Ride vehicle recycling program in the last year. Out of all the company’s models, the Escape and Focus were retired the most often through the program. We have to wonder if some of those folks decided on another Ford, but also decided to upgrade to an F-150.
Of course, the vehicles being retired through Retire Your Ride and Car Heaven are not new vehicles. The average age of a vehicle retired was 2004, with the oldest being a 1962 International Harvester and the newest a 2019 VW Beetle.
The most popular vehicle recycled? The 2004 Honda Civic with 32 vehicles across Canada turned in. Think these old cars were immediately crushed? Not a chance – those Civics are sought after for their parts re-use. That keeps even more Civics on the road. Actually, the five of the Top 10 vehicles retired were Honda Civics.
However, just looking at the Top 10, we find Ford at the top of the heap. The number of Fords recycled this year and the number of new Fords sold may not be entirely coincidental. While brand loyalty isn’t quite the force in the automotive world that it once was, there are still plenty of people who have a preferred car brand and tend to stick with it. It could very well be that Ford owners deciding to retire their ride this year simply purchased another Ford.
Honda, Chevrolet, and Toyota took the second, third, and fourth spots in our list of the most recycled vehicles through Retire Your Ride in the last year. This doesn’t quite line up with new car sales, although it’s still pretty close. In terms of sales, Toyota came in second, beating out Honda in third place and Chevrolet in fourth.
So, what drove Honda to the second spot on our most recycled list? It’s hard to tell for sure, but one clue might be that the Honda Civic has consistently been one of the best-selling cars in Canada, year after year. Sooner or later, all those cars reach retirement age and can better serve their owners as either part of the recycling stream through Retire Your Ride or donated to charity through Car Heaven.
The most common colour of vehicle retired? Grey, followed by Black, Silver and Blue.
Is it nearing time to Retire Your Ride? Our program pays the highest prices for salvage vehicles and its managed by the Automotive Recyclers of Canada, the association for professional automotive recyclers. Retiring your ride through our program gives you the assurance that comes with knowing that only authorized Certified Auto Recyclers, all of whom follow a strict code of environmental practice, will handle your vehicle. You can also donate your vehicle to Car Heaven and receive a tax receipt, with all proceeds donated to a Canadian charity of your choice. Since the program started, Car Heaven has raised over $4 million for Canadian charities.
Click here to learn more about Retire Your Ride.
Find more information on Car Heaven, including how to donate your vehicle, at this link.
| Vehicle Brand | # of vehicles |
| Ford | 522 |
| Honda | 446 |
| Chevrolet | 392 |
| Toyota | 359 |
| Dodge | 290 |
| Pontiac | 282 |
| Mazda | 252 |
| Nissan | 222 |
| Hyundai | 200 |
| Volkswagen | 153 |
| Year, make, model | # of vehicles |
| 2004 Honda Civic | 32 |
| 2007 Mazda Mazda3 | 27 |
| 2001 Honda Civic | 26 |
| 2005 Mazda Mazda3 | 25 |
| 2003 Honda Civic | 23 |
| 2008 Mazda Mazda3 | 23 |
| 2006 Honda Civic | 22 |
| 2005 Ford Focus | 21 |
| 2008 Ford Escape | 21 |
| 2005 Honda Civic | 20 |
| Colour | # of vehicles |
| Grey | 704 |
| Black | 700 |
| Silver | 666 |
| Blue | 590 |
| Red | 422 |
| White | 337 |
| Green | 232 |
| Beige | 135 |
| Brown | 125 |
| Gold | 104 |