Three quarters of Canadians are driving less and spend half as much time behind the wheel of their vehicle since the pandemic began, according to a new 2021 study from Canadian Black Book.
The study’s findings, which considers the car buying habits of Canadians, illustrates how the COVID-19 crisis and its economic repercussions have had a significant impact on how Canadians drive, travel, and approach buying a vehicle.
“This reduction in total kilometers driven by Canadians, brought on by the pandemic, has certainly had an impact on the industry, which our research clearly shows,” said David Robins, Principal Automotive Analyst and Head of Canadian Vehicle Valuations at Canadian Black Book. “The resultant differences in automotive buying and shopping trends and attitudes over the past twelve months are considerable, which perhaps goes without saying.”
However, the findings are interesting to note and may help some industry professionals and dealers think differently this year and beyond, according to Robins. For example, the study shows that 76% of respondents agree that they are driving less, and have been since the pandemic began. (This includes 86% of respondents who are 55 years of age or older, and 82% of those in Canadian households that make more than $100,000 per year.) It’s also worth noting that Alberta had the highest percentage of respondents (84%) that said they were driving less.
Why does this matter? Driving less means buying less. Drivers that spend less time on the road due to working from home or remote learning, have reduced their driving by nearly 50% on average, compared to pre-pandemic levels.
“The research suggests that nearly half (48%) agree that they are working from home more often. Other lockdown/ stay at home or restrictive public health related measures surely also contribute to the decline in kilometres driven,” said CBB in its news release. “The result is a reduced sense of urgency when it comes to buying a new vehicle.”
CBB said nearly three in four drivers (74%) who are getting behind the wheel less often agree (20% strongly/ 54% somewhat) that there is no need to quickly replace their vehicle, since they are not driving as much or are driving much shorter distances than usual. In Atlantic Canada, 80% of people surveyed will not be car shopping anytime soon due to less travel.
The study also considered whether respondents intend to purchase a new vehicle within the next 24 months, and 44% said they were likely to, compared to 52% in 2020 — indicating there may be a vehicle purchase sometime over the next two years. The group most likely to purchase in that time-frame are those aged 55 years and over, at 36% versus 47% in 2020. The 18-34 age group are more likely to buy (51%), although that is down from 57% in 2020.
“Households with earnings over $100k saw the largest drop in purchase intent at 45% in 2021 compared to 62% in 2020, before the pandemic,” said CBB. “Regionally those in Alberta are the most likely to buy over the next 2 years at 54%. In comparison to last year Ontarians are 45% likely versus 56% last year; and British Columbians have the lowest likelihood at 36% this year compared to 50% last year.”
“Over the last three or four years of this survey, the trend was that roughly 50% of Canadians, on average, intended to buy new vehicles within two years,” said CBB’s David Robins. “The drop to 44% is well over the margin of error for this study and is a significant shift in intention to buy attitudes across Canada.”
Data from the study derives from an Ipsos poll conducted between January 6-8, 2021, on behalf of CBB, and includes 1,000 Canadians who own or lease a car or truck and are looking to purchase a new one within the next two years. Those surveyed were aged 18 and over.
More details about the survey will be revealed in an upcoming CBB video interview with Canadian auto dealer, which will touch on the impact of electric vehicles, public transit versus ride-sharing, and the carbon tax on buying behaviour.
