Canadian automotive retail sales experienced “significant” increases throughout 2021, according to a year-end review from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
“In almost all cases this was driven primarily by higher prices per unit—rather than booming unit volumes,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner of DAC, adding that “widespread shortages have driven prices up, and contributed to troubling inflationary dynamics moving into 2022.”
Last year, gasoline stations saw retail sales jump 24.4%—and those sales are set to have more momentum further into 2022, particularly when considering the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Used car dealers saw retail sales increase by 21.8% thanks to an under-supplied new vehicle market, while new car dealers saw retail sales climb 18.4%. DAC said both unit prices and sales volumes increased after the pre-pandemic period in 2020.
“The automotive aftermarket was somewhat of an outlier where both moderate price increases and strong unit volume led to a comparatively mild sales increase of 10.8% for the year,” said DAC.
