While the semiconductor shortage unevenly impacted both brand and model-level performance, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC) said it also spread unevenly across the Canadian provinces.
New light vehicle sales declined 17.7% in October—down to an estimated 128,419 units sold thanks largely to the semiconductor shortage. Year-to-date sales are positive (up 9.5%), due largely to the “extreme” slowdown in the first half of 2020. But again, not all provinces reaped the same not-so-terrible declines.
“New Brunswick outperformed the national market with a decrease of only 10.9% and Alberta was not far off with an 11.5% sales decrease,” said DAC. However, British Columbia was down an estimated 22.3% for the month, and Nova Scotia and Manitoba also experienced declines of more than 20%.
Ontario also underperformed, when compared to the national average, with new light vehicle sales down 19.4%.
“As we approach the end of another difficult year, the provinces are looking to finish 2021 in varying states, with some provinces showing healthy increases from 2020, while others struggle to show even small gains,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner of DAC.
