Automotive News Canada - April 2021-v2 - 19

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* APRIL 2021

Used-vehicle sales a major factor in AutoCanada results
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 9

company for the quarter.
Used-vehicle sales were a
major factor in the stellar results.
AutoCanada sold 7,389 used vehicles in the fourth quarter, up 6.2
per cent from a year earlier and offsetting a slight decline in new-vehicle sales. The company's usedto-new ratio at its Canadian stores
rose to 0.91-to-1 from 0.85-to-1 in
2019.
Used-vehicle sales in Canada
accounted for more than 60 per
cent of the total vehicle market
in 2018 and 2019, topping three

million sales in each of those
years, according to DesRosiers
Automotive Consultants. New-car
dealers accounted for 30.7 per cent
of used-vehicle sales in 2019, while
private transactions and independent used dealers generated 35.2
per cent of sales and 34.1 per cent
of sales respectively.

POWERED BY PANDEMIC
Antony said the pandemic and
ensuing travel restrictions have
brought into the market many
buyers who otherwise might not
have been shopping for a vehicle.
Higher savings rates during the

pandemic - a result of curtailed
travel and other entertainment
spending - have prompted customers who typically would trade
in a vehicle every three to five
years to turn in their cars early.
" I think that people are valuing their independence and their
accessibility to freedom, " Antony
said. " And when it's locked down
and you can't go to the U.S. for
vacation or go to a sun destination, you still have your car that
you can drive to a campsite. You
can do a lot of things. "
AutoCanada is ahead of where
Antony thought it would be when

the pandemic emerged in March
2020 and wreaked havoc on the
industry.
" I don't think anybody in the
universe could have ever expected us or any dealer group or dealership to be where we are today, "
he said.
" To be able to have the type of
foresight to imagine that this was
going to happen as a result of a pandemic or that the economy was
going to get as lit up as it is today
when the government is throwing money out of helicopters, it
wouldn't have made any sense. "
- ANC

U.S. dealers
snapping up
Canada's
used cars
By JOHN IRWIN

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

PANDEMIC-INDUCED
border restrictions aren't preventing U.S. dealers from buying used vehicles at Canadian
auctions, further exacerbating
tight supply in this country.
" With the U.S. market
strengthening further and the
[dollar] exchange rate remaining favourable for exportation, buyers exporting vehicles
to the U.S. have remained on
par with pre-COVID levels, "
Canadian Black Book analysts
said in a Feb. 23 note. " As U.S.
values continue to increase,
expect more competition for
vehicles at Canadian auctions. "
It's one of the factors
contributing to a dwindling used-vehicle supply in
Canada, along with ramifications of the global microchip shortage and higher
demand. The supply of used
vehicles is expected to remain
tight in Canada in the coming
months.
The exchange rate offers an
opportunity for U.S. dealers to
essentially buy vehicles at a
discount north of the border.
Throughout March and early
April, the loonie was trading at
US 79 to 80 cents. While that's
the highest the Canadian dollar has traded relative to the
greenback since 2018, U.S. buyers are still heading north.
The dollar difference can
provide additional profit as
used-vehicle prices surge
in that market. According
to KAR Global Analytical
Services, wholesale used-vehicle prices averaged US $12,551
($15,992) in the United States
in January, up 5.6 per cent
from December and 13.1 per
cent from a year earlier.
The inventory crunch is
worse in Canada, said John
Hairabedian, CEO of Quebecbased HGregoire, a dealership group with stores in both
countries.
" In the U.S., we're not as
concerned about the supply
shortage. " - ANC

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PLATINUM SPONSOR

Antony: " We
view used
vehicles as a
gateway into
new vehicles,
as a gateway
into service. "
FILE PHOTO

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Automotive News Canada - April 2021-v2

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