As vehicle availability continues to challenge both dealers and car buyers, CarGurus is happy to introduce a new monthly report from our Director of Industry Insights & Analytics, Kevin Roberts. The Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights report will deliver his in-depth research and outlook for the coming months.
The ongoing global supply chain shortage has caused acute pain to the automotive industry which is being felt in both the new and used vehicle markets. The lack of vehicle production has led to a reduction in the number of new vehicles, which has then had a trickle-down impact on used vehicles as well.
For October, we witnessed declines for both new and used inventory with the new Vehicle Availability Index reading coming in at 33, a decline of 8.5% from September and 52.5% from last year. Used similarly saw a decline, however not as severe as new, with a drop of 1.5% from September and 14.1% YoY.
While new and used inventory levels have been trending down at a topline level, there is additional volatility under the surface as new days-on-market was down 10.3% from September and down 27% year-over-year. Used days-on-market has also seen a decline with a drop of 6.4% from September. This fall in days-on-market highlights the increased demand for private mobility as COVID-19 has made people warier of shared transportation.
The tightening vehicle market and decrease for days-on-market are impacting vehicle prices as well. The average new vehicle listing price was up 9.3% from September and 17.7% year-over-year. Similarly, the average used vehicle listing price was up 4.2% from September and 31.4% year-over-year. Nevertheless, these high prices have yet to dent demand from consumers as seen by declining inventory and days on market readings.
Outlook
Vehicle production looks to finally be picking up speed, although nowhere close to a full recovery at this point. With vehicle demand still high and sales impacted by the lack of inventory, we’re likely to see a recovery in sales before we’ll see inventory numbers fully bounce back. Industry expectations are that we’ll see inventory impacted until the later part of 2022.
To learn more about the trends impacting vehicle inventory, download the CarGurus Canada Vehicle Availability Index & Insights October 2021.