autoTRADER.ca continues to closely monitor Canadian car pricing trends month-over-month and year-over-year, leveraging robust data from over 450,000 new and used vehicle listings on the marketplace. Between November 26 and December 25, 2020, national median new vehicle listing prices experienced a slight decline, while used vehicle prices showed a consecutive increase – both month-over-month and year-over-year. A sustained increase in consumer demand, coupled with insufficient market supply has kept prices more buoyant through 2020, despite a slower winter season.
We expect economic uncertainty related to the global pandemic to continue its influence on market conditions and affect the trajectory of Canadian vehicle prices through 2021. We will continue to monitor this pricing behaviour and report our findings in next month’s Price Index.
Used vehicle prices continue to experience increases
The median price of a used vehicle across Canada settled the month at $19,888, an increase of 1.5 percent month-over-month and 5.2 percent year-over-year. Used vehicle prices showed a year-over-year increase for the third straight month, hinting at market normalization when compared to mid-late 2020 when a shortage of inventory was affecting price dynamics.
Meanwhile, following three months of consecutive month-over-month increases, the median retail price of a new vehicle experienced a 1.4 percent decline month-over-month and 5.1 percent year-over-year ($38,355).
Used trucks see highest year-over-year increase of 2020
Analyzing vehicle prices by body type, new trucks closed December with an average price of$59,887, representing an 8.7 perhaps increase year-over-year, and almost flat month-over-month at minus only 0.7 percent. This increase in prices can be linked to a shortage in new truck availability following factory closures earlier in 2020. New sedans experienced a modest increase, compared to other body types, closing the month with a 1.9 percent increase year-over-year and a 1.9 percent decrease month-over-month ($28,790). As for new SUVs, they are the only body type to experience both month-over-month and year-over-year increases at 0.9 percent and 3.6 percent (39,078) respectively, consistent with November’s findings. This price
increase can be attributed to the ongoing increase in consumer demand for SUVs and a decreasing interest in sedans.
Turning to used vehicles, trucks experienced the highest year-over-year growth of 2020 (18.3 percent), clocking in a double digit increase for the third consecutive month and the highest month-over-month increase in December across body types (1.4 percent) closing the month at $35,487. This price increase points to an overall inventory shortage in the market, contrasted against high demand for used trucks. Used sedans experienced a 6.7 percent increase year-over-year and flat growth month-over-month finishing December at $15,995. Used SUVs on the other hand experienced an increase both month-over-month and year-over-year at 0.4 and 2.0 percent respectively ($22,995).
European new and used vehicles maintain growth
Examining prices by manufacturer of origin, new European vehicles experienced the highest growth at 0.2 percent month-over-month and 7.0 percent year-over-year ($54,533). Despite this sustained increase in prices through Q3 2020, month-over-month prices for European vehicles saw only a slight increase in December compared to last month’s increase of 2.5 percent.
Both Asian and North American new vehicles experienced decreases month-over-month (0.2 and 0.9 percent); however, they saw increases in year-over-year prices at 2.3 and 1.8 percent, closing the month at $32,626 and $51,567 respectively. Similar to new vehicles, used European vehicles experienced sustained growth throughout Q4 2020, recording double digit year-over-year price increases for the third straight month at 13.9 percent, closing the month at $26,985, representing a 0.3 percent increase month-over-month.
North American used vehicles also experienced an increase both month-over-month and year-over-year at 2.3 percent and 7.1 percent ($21,950). Asian used vehicles witnessed a modest increase in prices across body types, closing the month at $17,507, representing a month-over-month increase of 0.1 percent and a year-over-year increase of 3.3 percent.
Used vehicle prices experience widespread regional growth, except for Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Looking at pricing behaviour by region, new vehicle prices experienced a decline both month-over-month and year-over-year across all provinces, except British Columbia, where prices increased slightly (0.3 percent) month-over-month. Alberta saw the highest regional month-over-month decrease at 2.0 percent, however it still maintains the highest average price for new vehicles in Canada at $44,905, which could be a result of the above-average popularity of large vehicles across the province. Conversely, used vehicles experienced price increases both month-over-month and year-over-year across the country, except in Manitoba and Saskatchewan where prices decreased,1.2 percent month-over-month and 1.6 percent year-over-year ($23,299). British Columbia experienced the highest used car price increase in Canada, both month-over-month and year-over-year at 3.8 percent and 14.1 percent, closing the month at $22,825 and registering the highest year-over-year regional growth of 2020.
Alberta, Ontario and Atlantic Canada followed closely behind BC’s strong year-over-year growth at 8 percent ($24,725), 5.2 percent ($19,980) and 4.5 percent ($18,797) respectively. Québec and Atlantic Canada still remain the regions with the lowest average price for used vehicles at $16,988 and $18,797.
These were the Top 10 Most Searched vehicles during the month of December of 2020 on autoTRADER.ca’s marketplace:
- Ford F-150 (#1)
Median price new: $56,414
Median price used: $34,998 - Ford Mustang (#2)
Median price new: $46,846
Median price used: $29,795 - BMW 3 Series (#3)
Median price new: $58,881
Median price used: $23,653 - Mercedes-Benz C-Class (#4)
Median price new: $58,442
Median price used: $31,925 - Porsche 911 (#5)
Median price new: $163,675
Median price used: $119,925 - Honda Civic (#6)
Median price new: $29,430
Median price used: $9,924 - BMW M (#7)
Median price new: $104,235
Median price used: $64,998 - Chevrolet Corvette (#10)
Median price new: $101,513
Median price used: $61,999 - Mercedes-Benz E-Class (#9)
Median price new: $85,859
Median price used: $34,910 - Toyota RAV4 (#8)
Median price new: $36,279
Median price used: $23,995
Released monthly, the autoTRADER.ca Price Index provides a snapshot of the Canadian automotive market to bring a level of transparency to the vehicle buying process. Analyzing pricing data from autoTRADER.ca’s marketplace of over 450,000 listings, tracking new and used vehicle pricing allows our data experts to identify how prices are trending nationally and provincially, along with the most searched models by consumers.
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