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CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights – February 2022

Posted by Kevin Roberts on March 3, 2022

February, in some ways, unfolded as anticipated, with improvements in both new and used inventory. However, those gains in inventory didn’t transfer over to other key metrics, highlighting that the road to a new normal will remain a winding one.

The CarGurus New Vehicle Availability Index for Canada increased 2.9% compared to January – even with those gains, though, it remained down 47.4% compared to last year. Used inventory had an even larger month-over-month increase, rising 5%, while the year-over-year figure was still down 12%. And though monthly gains in inventory are a welcome shift in trends, we didn’t see any relief in vehicle pricing in February.

The average new vehicle listing price in Canada rose 0.8% to Can$61.1k, and that figure is up 33.7% compared to the same period last year. Used prices accelerated with the average listing price rising 2.9% from January to Can$35.8k, which is up an eye-watering 48.9% compared to last year. Another data point that didn’t shift as expected with rising inventory was days-on-market.

The average days-on-market for new fell 0.2% in February to around 68 days, a decline of 26.2% year-over-year. Used average days-on-market saw an even larger decline of 4.3% compared to January to around 72 days and is similarly down 26.4% compared to last year.

While improving inventory levels are welcome, the combination of higher average prices and shrinking days-on-market shows that demand for private vehicles remains high. We’ll likely need to see a larger shift in vehicle inventory to begin the process of flattening out and then reducing vehicle prices.

For more insights, download the February edition of the Vehicle Availability Index & Insights report.

Topics: inventory, new vehicles, used vehicles, vehicle availability