The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems. While the pandemic restrictions that limited sales over much of the past two years are now mostly behind us, the microchip shortage that ensued is being resolved only at a snail’s pace.
Now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further upset supply lines for some automakers and suppliers, all of which leaves the entire global auto industry’s production capabilities still significantly constrained. It is no surprise then that February’s Canadian sales of 98,722 new vehicles, as estimated by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC), were down by 12.4 % from the same month last year—and 20.0% from February 2020, which was the last comparative pre-pandemic month.
Those differences were also reflected in the February SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Sales Rate) of 1.62 million, which compared to 1.85 million a year ago and more than 2.0 million in February 2020. February’s SAAR was down from January’s 1.68-million level as well, but in line with the range of values it has attained over the past 10 months. Thanks to stronger January results, cumulative year-to-date sales of 190,133 units through February 2022 were down by just 6.6% from 2021, and by 18.4% from 2020.
Winners and losers
Given the widespread supply-side constraints and their effects on production, sales numbers for any manufacturer are more likely a reflection of product availability than market demand alone.
Of those automakers reporting February results, Genesis led the pack in terms of the greatest percentage gain, up 23.0% from a year ago.
Hyundai and Kia followed, in that order, with gains of 10.8% and 6.3% respectively, while Subaru (+3.9%—its best February ever) and Volvo (+2.0%) also posted positive numbers.
On the negative side of the ledger, Honda reported the greatest decline (-23.4%), with Toyota (-17.5%), Mazda (-12.1%), Acura (-5.2%) and Lexus (-1.0%) reporting lesser losses.
Given that many automakers continue to report sales only quarterly rather than monthly, a complete breakdown of results by manufacturer will be available after the first quarter.
