After four months of sales in the range of 140,000 units/month – well below traditional norms—new-vehicle sales in Canada fell even further in July, 2022.
Sales of 130,480 vehicles, as estimated by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC), were down 16.2% from last July’s depressed numbers and 24.8% below the same month in pre- pandemic 2019. According to Andrew King, Managing Partner of DAC, “this represents the weakest July sales total since 2001.”
On a slightly more positive note, the SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Sales Rate) for the month was about 1.43-million units, according to DAC – roughly in line with last month’s figure, perhaps suggesting that the steady four-month slide that began in February has come to an end.
Year-to-date sales of 886,356 units at the end of July were down 12.5% from a year ago —and 23.2% from 2019. The major problem limiting sales continues to be on the supply side, primarily related to semiconductor chip shortages. While there are some reports of improvements in that situation, they still seem to be scattered and selective, such that some automakers are more or less affected than others. There is still no sign of any dramatic change in the situation in the near term.
Winners and losers
As has been the case for the past year, sales numbers for individual manufacturers more likely reflect product availability than market demand alone. With that caveat in mind and the understanding that many automakers no longer report monthly, here is an overview of those who have reported sales for July.
Genesis’ status as a relative newcomer still in the rapid growth stage has kept it at the top of the charts in terms of percentage gain, up 13.2% from the same month a year ago, and 46.7% for the year to date. It was the only reporting brand to show a year-over-year sales increase for the month.
Lexus was the only other reporting brand to outpace the market average for the month, with a decline of 15.7%, and year-to-date sales down just 4.7%.
Acura (-64.2%), reported the greatest year-over-year decline for the month, followed by Subaru (-48.0%), Honda (-47.4%), Mazda (-36.1%) and Kia (-35.9%). A complete breakdown of results by manufacturer will be available after the end of September.
