New auto sales down 6.2% in March
Slump beginning to look like a long-term trend instead of a blip
There were no signs of spring in sales of new motor vehicles in March, according to Statistics Canada figures released Friday.
“Compared with March 2015, total sales were down 6.2 per cent to 4,351 units,” said Doug Elliott, publisher of Sask Trends Monitor, a monthly statistical newsletter.
Passenger car sales were down 5.5 per cent to 847 in March, while first-quarter car sales tumbled 11.6 per cent from the same period in 2015. Sales of trucks and SUVs were up 6.4 per cent to 3,504 in March, but for the year to date sales declined 4.6 per cent.
First-quarter vehicle sales of 10,985 are the lowest since 2011, he added. “The drop in the first quarter was 4.6 per cent, which is in line with the 5.4 per cent decline in the 2015 calendar year,’’ Elliott said.
Even the average sales price in March was down 6.8 per cent to $37,809. “This is quite a departure from recent trends and is the largest decline since 2009.”
As with manufacturing sales, job numbers, housing starts and other economic indicators, the slump in new vehicle sales is beginning to look like a long-term slump, rather than a short-term blip.
“We’ve been saying that the declines in the various economic indicators are not catastrophic and are just reversing the recent rapid growth, but things are starting to look worse than that,” Elliott said.
“Dealers must be starting to worry.’’
If they are, that’s news to Susan Buckle, executive director of the Saskatchewan Auto Dealers Association. “No, not really,’’ Buckle said in reply to an email inquiry. “We are anticipating the soft market,’’ she said, adding “no dealers (are) complaining.”
Alberta reported 19,606 new vehicles sold in March, down 7.6 per cent from 21,224 in March 2015, while Manitoba posted 4,902 new vehicle sales, on par with 4,909 during the same period last year.
Canadian new vehicle sales totalled 178,172 in March, up about eight per cent from 164,251 in March 2015.
The drop in the first quarter was 4.6 per cent, which is in line with the 5.4 per cent decline in the 2015 calendar year. DOUG ELLIOTT