Toronto, Ontario – How’s your 2021 going so far? Well according to the latest report from Desrosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. (DAC), that may depend on what province you live in, as sales numbers for the light vehicle market are scattered across the board in Canada, with figures ranging drastically from province-to-province.
With the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic varying significantly based on the region in which you live, so too do the results found in this latest report from DAC which shows both notable spikes and declines in light vehicle sales on a provincial level.
The report shows an estimated 39.1 percent decline in sales in January for Quebec, who faced strict lockdown restrictions and curfews throughout that time.
Conversely, Newfoundland experienced a 24 percent bump in sales in the first month of 2021, “albeit at a lower and in turn more volatile volume,” according to the report.
Fellow east coast provinces, PEI and Nova Scotia also reported sales increases of 11.9 and 5.2 percent, respectively.
Across the country, British Columbia saw a 4.5 percent climb and Alberta a 9.4 percent fall in sales volume.
Ontario, which accounted for over half of the sales decrease in 2020, saw its sales fall 19.7 percent in January.
“January is a low volume and volatile month at the best of times,” said Andrew King, managing partner of DAC.
“COVID-related measures enacted by provincial governments have further exacerbated the normal fluctuations.”
In total, the light vehicle market is down 17.4 percent to an estimated 90,890 units sold, as compared to 109,988 units in January 2020.
