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New cars sales milestone now ‘a formality’
November appears to be merely a blip on the radar as Canadian new car sales are expected to cross a major milestone by the end of December.
New cars and light truck sales dipped lower compared to one year ago in November, representing only the second month this year that didn’t produce an increase, according to figures compiled by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. Still, the 158,653 vehicles sold last month means that 1,914,551 units have been sold year-to-date.
Less than 86,000 vehicles are needed to hit the two-million mark. In December 2016, more than 125,000 vehicles were sold.
“The 2 million mark appears a formality,” DesRosiers said in an e-mail.
Total light vehicle sales fell 1.2 per cent to 158,653 in November compared with 160,573 in the same month of 2016.
The move lower came as car sales fell 10 per cent to 44,061 for the month compared with 48,945 in November 2016.
Light truck sales increased to 114,592 from 111,628.
Volvo saw the biggest boost among carmakers at more than 61 per cent with Volkswagen second at almost 32 per cent.
Ford sales fell 2.8 per cent to 23,775 compared with 24,450 a year ago, while General Motors dropped 17.2 per cent to 23,612 compared with 28,523 in the same month last year. FCA sales slipped 7.8 per cent to 19,054 compared with 20,674 a year ago.
With files from The Canadian Press
Lets not kid anyone here. These cars are not being sold!! They are being financed!! It is troubling that the number of vehicles that are leaving the dealers lot are being financed over 5 to 8 years. Most of these cars will barely make it through the term of the loan. Customers will be strapped to pay repair costs on expensive options while they are still paying off the loan that is still owed. Some repairs will cost more than the vehicle is worth in 5 to 8 years. The finance companies are the ones making big money here. Auto repair shops will continue to struggle with the cost of technology updates and a large number will fail. These are not good things for the aftermarket auto industry.
I don’t think anyone is kidding anyone here. The love affair with new cars and trucks is stronger than ever, consumers want the newest technologies in their vehicles and they are willing to pay for it. Today’s consumer does not complete a purchase transaction using long term financing with the expectation they will have no maintenance and/or repair costs before the entire loan is paid off. I do believe manufactures consider these facts when designing, building and launching new products while having to consider all the legislation that applies to the auto industry.