CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights – July 2023

In July used inventory levels rose again by 2.5%. However, despite these recent gains, year-over-year levels are still down nearly 11%. The increase in inventory continued to come at a price, with used average listing prices rising 1.2% to $37.7k Canadian dollars and prices now down just 2% compared to last year. Finally, the rising inventory levels helped lower days-on-market, which declined 1% from June.
CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights – June 2023

June saw used inventory rise by 3.1%, helping to reduce the year-over-year decline to 12.9%, as used vehicles remain harder to find on dealer lots. The increase in inventory came at a price – literally – as the average listing price rose by 0.7% in June to $37.3k Canadian dollars. The rising inventory levels helped to again reduce days-on-market, which declined by 5.5% to just over 77 days.
CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights – April 2023

April saw used inventory levels decline slightly by 0.6% month-over-month (MoM), however more significantly they remain down nearly 15% year-over-year (YoY) highlighting the difficulty in finding a used vehicle in the current market after three years of reduced new vehicle sales. The tightening used inventory helped to increase average listing prices 1.5% to over Can$36.5k, however some of the departing inventory look to be aged as average days-on-market dropped 5.1% MoM.
CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights – March 2023

Used inventory levels continued to tighten in March with Vehicle Availability Index readings dropping 3.2% MoM and now down 8% YoY. Surprisingly the tightening inventory hasn’t impacted prices yet as average listing prices dropped 1.4% MoM and are now down 3.1% YoY while still being up over 50% from pre-COVID levels. Days-on-market for used vehicles headed down in March, suggesting that consumers are purchasing more longer sitting models as inventory levels tighten.
Product Update: RPM Premier customers can now advertise on Instagram
Exciting news! We have added Instagram retargeting to our Real-time Performance Marketing (RPM) package. This means the inventory-specific social ads, already running on Facebook will now also run on Instagram. The RPM enhancement comes as a way to drive more high-quality shoppers to your dealership website, further optimizing your advertising performance and reach.
And the winners are… Announcing the 2023 CarGurus Top-Rated Dealer Awards

It’s one of our favorite days here at CarGurus. The winners of the 7th annual CarGurus Top-Rated Dealer Awards have been announced. Congratulations to the elite group of dealers who earned the title this year!
Based on reviews from real shoppers across the country, this award is the longest-running program of its kind, celebrating the dealers who consistently deliver exceptional customer service to car shoppers. Each dealer in this group had an average dealer rating of 4.5 stars or higher and earned at least four verified customer reviews through the CarGurus platform in 2022.
CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights – February 2023

February overall saw a continuation of the trends that we saw last month. For used vehicles we saw inventory levels continue to decline with readings dropping 4.5% month-over-month while year-over-year readings were up just 0.1%. While readings are effectively flat compared to last year the trends couldn’t be more different as last year’s used inventory was heading up while this year it’s heading down. While inventory was trending down thankfully, we saw a continuation of declines in used vehicle prices last month with average listing prices declining 0.9% to just over Can$36.5k leaving prices up just 2% year-over-year. Finally, for used vehicles the declining inventory readings didn’t affect days-on-market yet as levels rose 1.9% month-over-month and now up a whopping 33.5% year-over-year.
3 ways to elevate your post-sale experience – and keep customers coming back

Take a minute to think about what you’d want a customer to say if asked about their experience with your dealership. Is your waiting room experience unmatched? Do you pride yourself on having every shopper greeted with a smile at the door? Is it easy for shoppers to leave reviews?
To stand out from the competition and keep customers coming back to your dealership after making a purchase, you need to make sure your dealership provides an unmatched post-sale experience. Read on for three ways to elevate your dealership brand and experience for customers after the sale.
CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights – January 2023

The start of the year was light on surprises for the Canadian vehicle market as trends from the end of 2022 continued into 2023.
On the used front, inventory continued to decline MoM by 5.8%; however, inventory levels are still up 10.1% compared to where they were last year. Average listing prices for used vehicles continued to decline, although the rate slowed to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it -0.2% MoM, while prices are still up 6% YoY and a whopping 55.8% compared to pre-COVID measures. With more attractive vehicles moving faster, we’re continuing to see days-on-market increase, with January 2023 levels up 6.2% MoM and 25.3% YoY.
CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights – December 2022

The end of the year saw a continued strengthening of availability and pricing trends for vehicles in the Canadian market. New inventory levels continued their rebound with levels increasing 6.4% compared to November and now up over 32% year-over-year. Used inventory levels saw a slight increase of 0.5%. Overall, readings were up 19% compared to the same time last year, which means that consumers have a much better selection of vehicles to start 2023.