RICHMOND HILL, Ontario -

While the Honda Civic maintained its perch atop the list of best-selling passenger cars year-to-date in Canada, the model saw its monthly sales fall more than 41 percent in August and is seeing some pressure from a certain Korean model that may knock the vehicle from its longtime run as the country’s most popular car, according to industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers.

There were 3,073 Civics sold in Canada during August, down 41.1 percent year-over-year. Through the first eight months of the year, sales of the model have reached 33,047 vehicles.

That year-to-date sum still tops the passenger car list, but it marks a 10.3-percent year-over-year drop and is just 110 units ahead of the Hyundai Elantra.

Sales of the Korean model hit 3,886 units, which was enough to claim the No. 1 in Canada for August sales. It also marks  a near-20-percent hike over August 2010.

Through August, there have been 32,937 Elantras sold, a 37.9-percent gain.

“The Civic is still the best-selling passenger car year to date,  but Elantra is fast closing in on the top spot,” DesRosiers noted. “Civic has been the best-selling passenger car for more than a decade and symbolically, it is a very significant development to lose this mantel to another brand.”

On the truck side of the market, the Ford F-Series led both the monthly and year-to-date rankings in August.

Its sales were at 9,191 units in August, a 7.8-percent drop. Year-to-date sales came in at 64,581 units for a 2.1-percent decline.

“Ford, of course, continues to offer the best-selling light vehicle in Canada with their F-Series pick-up trucks,” DesRosiers commented. “They are down slightly this year, but they are still a runaway best seller on the light truck side of the market and the overall market as well.”

Offering some more overall commentary on segment sales, DesRosiers spotted the surprising strength of midsize family vehicles, which have climbed 5 percent year-to-date with 253,266 vehicles sold.

Among the four large combined segments, it is behind only the entry-level class, which has seen sales of 521,606 units for a 1.4-percent hike.

The large/luxury/sport segment is down 3.2 percent at 123,390 units sold, and the primarily commercial segment is up 1.7 percent with sales of 191,343 units.

“The surprise best-selling segments this year are the mid-sized family vehicle segments. We no longer are provided fleet sales so I don’t know for sure but I suspect that most of the strength in these segments is coming from fleet vehicles,” he pointed out. “Fleet sales have been very weak the last few years so the OEMs are playing catch up in this part of the market.”

Leading the seven individual segments of passenger cars for year-to-date sales is the compact class, whose sales totaled 248,625 units (down 0.6 percent).

On the truck side of the market, the top individual segment is the compact sport utility vehicle, with sales of 184,124 units (up 7.7 percent).

“Intermediate passenger car, small van and intermediate SUV all have double digit growth for the month and positive growth for the year,” DesRosiers added.