Canadian wholesale vehicle sales drop sixth week in a row

In their latest weekly COVID-19 weekly market report, Canadian Black Book reports that Canadian wholesale vehicle prices for cars and trucks declined for the sixth week in a row.

As of midnight, Monday November 23, in Ontario both Toronto and Peel regions enter Ontario’s new Grey – lockdown state. The two regions have been longstanding COVID-19 hotspots and have some of the greatest population density in the country. The two regions also represent more than 11% of the Canadian population.

At this time, auto retailers and service operations in Peel and Toronto can operate, provided customers make appointments in advance. From an industry standpoint, the obvious concern is that these new restrictions will cool showroom traffic, and result in lower vehicle sales both for new and used.

This lockdown, which does force many non-essential businesses to close, will be in effect for four weeks’ time. This will also have the impact of reducing vehicle use in the affected areas, as citizens are asked to remain home as much as possible.

Car segments decreased in wholesale value, on average -0.27% last week, while truck segments’ wholesale prices decreased by -0.17%.

Looking back to November 2019, the average weekly change in values was -0.39% for cars and a -0.41% loss for trucks.

U.S. wholesale used vehicle prices weakened again for both Car and Truck segments last week. Car wholesale prices fell by -0.31% and Trucks were down by -0.38%.

New restrictions in parts of Ontario now see over 10% of the Canadian population in a state of lockdown.

To view the full report, click here.