TORONTO - Canada has so far avoided the sales decline in the car market but will not outrun the global slump next year, with sales likely to skid about 10 per cent, a Scotiabank economic analysis says.
Worldwide sales of cars and light trucks are in "a precipitous fall-off, led by sharp declines in the mature markets of the United States, Western Europe and Japan," Scotia auto industry specialist Carlos Gomes observed in a a report released Friday.
In sharp contrast, vehicle sales in Canada last month were up two per cent year-over-year, running at an annualized rate of 1.64 million units. And used-car prices, a leading indicator of demand for new vehicles, have actually edged higher in recent months, he noted.
"Nevertheless, we expect the sharp erosion in global economic conditions and equity markets will increasingly take a toll on Canadian prospects," Gomes said.
"As a result, we are reducing our 2009 Canadian new-vehicle sales forecast to 1.50 million units, down from 1.67 million this year and an average of 1.60 million so far this decade."
