As the new year begins dealers may be interested in DesRosiers Automotive Consultants’ latest update on automotive employment, which revealed a minor 0.6% increase back in October 2024 although performance for some industries varied. Manufacturing seemed to dip as the aftermarket enjoyed a boon.
For example, employment in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry slipped 1.8% in October 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, down to a little less than 36,000. And parts and accessories manufacturing decreased 5.5% to a little more than 69,000. In contrast the aftermarket saw increases, with automotive parts and accessories store employment rising 2.0% to 45,000. DAC said this was a new record for the industry.
“The performance of the aftermarket sectors in generating employment was remarkable in 2024,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC, in a statement. “Parts and accessories stores, and repair facilities both hit all time records, generating jobs for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.”
Employment for the automotive repair and maintenance industry also shifted into record breaking territory as employment climbed above 123,000, according to DAC. “Automobile dealers, the largest single slice of automotive employment counts, saw an increase of 2.4% over October 2023 to 159.1 thousand — an impressive level though still below dealer pre-pandemic totals,” they said.
