Auto dealers are selling fewer vehicles these days — a fact that is hard to ignore when reviewing DesRosiers Automotive Consultant’s latest update: light vehicle sales per dealer franchise are the lowest they have been since 2009.
The drop in sales occurs at a time when dealers are selling fewer vehicles and are struggling to get more units on their lots and in their stores due to inventory issues. However, DAC said the situation may be more-than-meets-the-eye.
“Measures of dealer performance have to be looked at in new ways over the past two years and the significant drop in sales per franchise is not necessarily the dire situation that it may first seem to be,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC, in a statement.
DAC said the sales drop may have different implications than what has historically been the case.
In this pandemic/pre-pandemic period, Canada saw sales per dealer franchise decline from 442 units on average in 2021, to 401 units for 2022. Prior to the pandemic in 2019, sales per dealer franchise was on average 517 units.
For the mass market, Toyota maintained the lead with 709 units sold on average per franchise, and Ford and Hyundai were close behind with 539 and 502 units, respectively. On the luxury side, Lexus sold 626 units, and Mercedes-Benz and Audi sold 592 and 583 units, respectively.
“While the majority of brands witnessed decreases, notable gains were seen by Genesis, General Motors, and FCA Canada,” said DAC in its update. “The actual number of dealers (including affiliated brands) in Canada increased by five to a total of 3,714 as of 2022.”
