Nissan’s Sentra compact car jumped onto the list of top 10 best-selling passenger cars of 2017. So, why isn’t the Sentra a winner (and no jokes about the hum-ho styling)?

The Toyota Corolla, Canada’s No. 2 seller among cars and a winner.

Easy. Sentra sales were down last year, by 2.8 per cent. Not great. Yet that performance was strong enough to take the No. 10 spot on the list of 2017 best sellers. Cars.

Here’s the thing: the overall passenger car market slumped 3.4 per cent in 2017, notes DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. Meantime, light truck sales jumped 8.7 per cent.

Canadians, in fact, bought more than twice as many pickups, vans and sport-utility vehicles as passenger cars – 1,398,975 versus 639,823. And the most popular light trucks were compact SUVs (424,760), while compacts were the most popular cars (389,838).

The Sentra was kind of a winner because sales did not slump as seriously as the overall passenger car market.

Ford’s F-Series pickup was also sort of a winner. Sales last year were up 6.8 per cent (155,290), making Ford’s popular full-size pickup the most popular light truck in the country. Yet sales in the overall large pickup segment jumped a whopping 13.1 per cent.

Rivals to the F-Series all performed better than the No. 1 rig: Ram sales were up 10.6 per cent; GMC Sierra sales were up 21.1 per cent; and Chevrolet Silverado sales surged 31.5 per cent.

When taken in context, then, the F-Series held onto the No. 1 crown for another year, even though sales lagged major competitors. Does that suggest problems ahead for the F-Series? Consider: FCA (Fiat Chrysler) and General Motors soon plan to launch reinvented versions of their big rigs. Hmm. This is going to be interesting.

Honda Civic: still No. 1 and a winner.

On the car side of things, Honda’s Civic remains Canada’s most popular car – and did so in winning fashion. While car sales continued to slump in 2017, Civic sales were up 6.8 per cent last year (69,030 Civics sold). Toyota’s Corolla was also a winner, with sales up 10.3 per cent to 50,332 units.

Another compact car winner: Kia’s Forte. The Forte finished 2017 as No. 8 overall after sales surged 33.3 per cent to 16,388. The Forte was redesigned last year. Yes, buyers noticed and approved of the changes – not to mention the discounts slapped on virtually all the cars on the top 10 list, not just the Forte.

Luxury vehicles were winners, too. The overall luxury segment was up 6.1 per cent, notes DesRosiers, while sales of higher-end luxury vehicles jumped 18.7 per cent and luxury sport-ute sales were up 7.6 per cent.

A big loser: small vans – minivans. Sales slumped 2.8 per cent.

On the other hand, subcompact sport utilities jumped 32.6 per cent and compact luxury SUVs were 16.6 per cent. Winner, winner.

For more, here’s a look at the top 10 best-selling cars and light trucks for 2017:

Passenger Cars

2017            2016          % gain/loss

1 Honda Civic                         69,030        64,552           6.9%

2 Toyota Corolla                    50,332         45,626        10.3%

3 Hyundai Elantra                 46,112         48,875         -5.7%

4 Mazda3                                27,862         26,824          0.6%

5 Chevrolet Cruze                  27,520         26,824          2.6%

6 Volkswagen Golf                 22,288          17,513       27.33%

7 Volkswagen Jetta                 17,483         20,954       -16.6%

8 Kia Forte                               16,388          12,296        33.3%

9 Toyota Camry                       14,574          15,683          -7.1%

10 Nissan Sentra                     13,883          14,281         -2.8%

Light Trucks

1 Ford F-Series                       155,290      145,209           6.8%

2 Ram pickup                           98,465        89,048         10.6%

3 GMC Sierra                            61,883          51,091         21.1%

4 Chevrolet Silverado             59,066          44,932         31.5%

5 Toyota RAV4                         50,894          49,103           3.6%

6 Honda CR-V                          50,443           44,789         12.6%

7 Ford Escape                           47,880           46,661           2.6%

8 Dodge Caravan                      46,993           51,349          -8.6%

9 Nissan Rogue                         43,418           40,055          8.42%

10 Hyundai Tucson                   30,467           23,789          28.1%

Source: DesRosiers Automotive Consultants