DesRosiers Automotive Consultants has raised a flag in noting that the Canadian new light vehicle market started to show early signs of concern.
They said the luxury market is in negative territory, year-to-date, and that there is notable variance appearing at the OEM level. As for regional performances, DAC did point to the markets as being positive across the nation in April — but that the scale of these positive market increases differed significantly.
“While the overall market continues to be positive, the pace of sales growth has decreased compared to earlier this year,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC, in a statement. “The industry SAAR fell below 1.7 million in April — the lowest we have seen so far in 2024, and a far cry from the levels above 2 million seen in January and February.”
As for provincial level differences, Ontario experienced the lowest sales increase from reporting OEMs with a 9.8% gain. In comparison, Saskatchewan saw a 23.0% increase and Québec was up an impressive 19.8%. Year-to-date, however, it is the Atlantic provinces that lead the way with increases in sales that hover close to or above 20%.
“Overall, April 2024 saw sales reach an estimated 164,000 units sold, a 14.0% increase compared to a weak April 2023 comparable,” said DAC.
