When it comes to January data trends, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Even though new and used vehicle inventory levels increased in January, it’s possible that the increase was not exclusively due to improving vehicle production. It’s likely that consumers are also starting to sit out from historically high prices. Even with the small increases in January, overall inventory is still significantly impacted compared to last year, with new inventory down nearly 50% and used down 18.4%.
As mentioned, pricing is likely starting to have an impact on inventory as we saw further jumps in average listing prices for both new and used in January. The average new listing price rose 1.9% to over Ca$60K and is now up 31.8% YoY, while used prices accelerated 4.4% to nearly Ca$35K, up 46% YoY.
Finally, we can infer that inventory increases aren’t exclusive to new production as the days-on-market has been rising in kind. The average new days-on-market rose 4.1% to around 68 days, and the average used days-on-market increased 2.1% to nearly 76 days.
The balance between supply and demand will continue throughout 2022 as even the most optimistic new vehicle production forecasts foresee continued limitations throughout the first part of the year; however, it looks like prices have begun to reach a point where demand is starting to level out somewhat.
For more insights, download the January edition of the Vehicle Availability Index & Insights report.