Canadian auto sales slide in November compared to 2017
Posted December 4, 2018 1:08 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) — Canadian auto sales dropped by 9.4 per cent in November compared to the same time last year, which is the largest year-over-year decline since the financial crisis.
Senior Economist with the Bank of Montreal, Alex Koustas, said this drop was a bit of a surprise.
“I would say November’s print was defiantly a bit to the larger side, defiantly something that signals things might be slowing down a bit more than expected, although that being said I think the strength that we saw earlier in the year was a bit unexpected as well.”
Alberta suffered one of the bigger slides compared to other provinces.
READ MORE: Canadian auto sales off to a strong start after record-breaking January
Koustas thinks that’s mainly due to the economic situation currently in the province and the oil market.
But Koustas added overall Canada should have a strong year when it comes to auto sales.
“Sales this year are still on pace to be kinda the third best on record,” said Koustas, “If you take a look at Novembers number, it’s no worse than what we saw, say in 2014 or something like that, which was still a pretty strong year all truth be told.”
If there are any takeaways from the November numbers, Koustas said it appears the market is starting to slow, which could result in a quieter 2019.
