In July, most provinces experienced sales decreases, but some did manage to increase sales for the month, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
“Provincial performance remained mixed moving into the second half of 2021,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner of DAC, adding that “this pattern should hold while the automotive market continues to face varied supply and demand issues stemming from both semiconductor shortages and the pandemic.”
Total new light vehicle sales for July decreased 5.7% from the same time in 2020, reaching an estimated 155,657 units sold. But that did not stop British Columbia from a sales increase of 8.1% in July, which helped the province narrow its sales volume gap between Alberta.
Other good news came from both Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, which managed increases of 4.8% and 4.4%, respectively.
On the downside, Ontario and Quebec noted sales decreases of 4.9% and 11.7% respectively—which then led to a volume loss of more than 8,000 units jointly. Year-to-date, DAC said provincial performance revealed an average increase of 25.1% compared to 2020 sales.
