Tuesday, February 17, 2004

First decline in eight years in new vehicle sales

Sales of new vehicles fell last year for the first time since 1995. And at the same time, the combined market share of the Big Three North American automakers continued to slide.

Car dealers sold 1,626,468 new vehicles, down 6.2% from the record 1,733,318 in 2002. Still, last year’s level was the second highest ever.

The combined market share of the Big Three North American automakers slipped for both passenger cars and trucks.

The Big Three accounted for only 40.8% of all new passenger cars last year, down from about one-half in 2001, and 64.6% in 1995.

The Big Three still dominate the truck market. However, last year they accounted for less than three-quarters of all truck sales (73.3%), compared with 87.1% in 1995.

In total, consumers purchased 760,993 new trucks last year, down 4.7%. The decline was mainly attributable to lower sales of North American-built trucks. Sales of trucks built overseas were up.

Dealers sold 865,475 new passenger cars, down 7.4%. Sales of both overseas-built and North American-built cars fell.

Sales declined in every province, the biggest drop in Ontario.

On a monthly basis, new vehicle sales fell for the fifth consecutive month in December despite dealer incentives. Consumers bought only 117,373 new vehicles, the lowest monthly level in five years.

This drop was attributable to weak sales of North American-built passenger cars and trucks. Trucks include minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses.

For more information, contact Clérance Kimanyi (613-951-6363), Distributive Trades Division.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.