As we consider the current situation around the used vehicle market in Canada, it is worth noting some of the other events occurring within the automotive domain.
For example, the United States and United Kingdom have agreed to reduce tariffs on most U.K. vehicle imports, according to Canadian Black Book. They will now face a levy of 10% on vehicles and an array of parts, initially subject to 25%. The reduced tariff margin only applies to the first 100,000 units imported into the U.S. Last year, 102,000 units were imported in all.
On specific brands, Toyota may be among the largest impacted OEMs in the Trump administration’s trade war. “Toyota has disclosed a nearly $1.2 billion profit drop in only the last two months.”
On the Canadian side, manufacturer Linamar may very well be the only benefactors of the U.S. tariffs. CBB said the company’s parts comply with free trade (CUSMA) rules, “resulting in an acquisition of roughly $200 million in parts contracts in the last quarter.”
And on the banking side, John Hiscock, Senior VP of Auto Finance at Scotiabank, announced his retirement earlier this year. Hiscock, 59, is an industry veteran. He will be succeeded by John Kontos as of June 2nd. Kontos has been serving as VP of Manufacturer Partnerships and Dealer Programs.
Used wholesale pricing
With so much going on, dealers keeping an eye on the Canadian used vehicle market may be interested to note the decline of -0.10% in pricing for the week ending on May 10, from -0.15% the prior week and the plus-zones in earlier weeks.
Car segment prices decreased by -0.20% (similar to the previous week), while the truck/SUV segments decreased by -0.01% (from -0.09% the prior week). The largest increases were seen in full size cars and full-size pickups.
“The Canadian market reflected a decrease in pricing, less pronounced than in its prior week,” said CBB in its Market Insights update. “Just over 27% of the market segments experienced an average value change of more than ±$100. Monitored auction sale rates ranged from 19.8% to 78.8% averaging at 47.5%.”
CBB added that supply has remained high in comparison to prior weeks; “however upstream channels continue to gain early access. There continues to be a high demand on both sides of the border for an increase in inventory and vehicles at auctions.”
In the car segments, the largest depreciations were luxury cars (-0.54%), prestige luxury cars (-0.38%), and compact cars (-0.29%). Increases in values were seen from full-size cars (+0.61%), sub-compact cars (+0.16%), sports cars (+0.04%), and mid-size cars (+0.03%).
For trucks/SUVs, the largest depreciations were full-size crossovers/SUVs (-0.59%), minivans (-0.39%), and compact vans (-0.36%). Increases in values were seen coming from full-size pickups (+0.54%) — the most significant — and others like full-size crossovers/SUVs, sub-compact luxury crossovers, and small pickups, all of which had the same uptick (+0.09%).
