CBB Weekly Automotive Market Update 05/17/2022

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Wholesale Prices, Week Ending May 13th

The Canadian used wholesale market saw overall prices remain relatively flat for the week (-0.03%). The Car segment outperformed the SUV/Truck segment for the 7th straight week, as gas prices continue to rise across the country. The Car segment saw prices increase slightly (+0.06%), while the Truck/SUV segment saw prices decline for the week (-0.12%) 7 of 22 sub-segments saw prices increase for the week, with Premium Sporty Car (+0.48%) leading the way, followed by Small Pickup (+0.42%).

	This Week	Last Week	2017-2019 Average (Same Week)
Car segments	+0.06%	-0.13%	-0.10%
Truck & SUV segments	-0.12%	-0.32%	-0.09%
Market	-0.03%	-0.23%	-0.09%

Car Segments

• Overall, the volume-weighted wholesale used Car prices increases by +0.06% for the week.
• Premium Sporty Car segment saw the largest price increase for the week (+0.48%), followed by Sporty Car (+0.25%) and Compact Car (+0.08%).
• Full-Size Car segment saw the largest prices drops for the week, down -0.38% followed by Mid-Size Car (-0.37%) and Near Luxury Car (-0.32%).

Truck Segments

• Overall, volume-weighted wholesale used Truck/SUV prices decreased for the 7th straight week (-0.12%).
• Only 2 Sub-segments saw prices increase for the week, with Small Pickup leading the way (+0.42%), followed by Full-Size Pickup (+0.04%).
• Sub-Compact Luxury Crossover segment saw the largest prices decline for the week (-0.39%), followed by Compact Luxury Crossover (-0.35%) and Full-Size Luxury Crossover/SUV (-0.30%).

Used Retail Prices & Listing Volumes

The average listing price for used vehicles hit another historic high, as prices increased week-over-week, as the 14-day moving average remains slightly below $38,000. Analysis is based on approximately 120,000 vehicles listed for sale on Canadian dealer lots.

Wholesale

The Canadian wholesale market has continued to remain stable overall with improvements in sales prices last week compared to the week prior. Supply remains low while demand continues to soften on both sides of the border. Upstream channels continue to tap supply before it can be made available at physical auctions. Conversion rates were challenged this past week, as rates were only into the 30% range on some lanes last week, with the few low kilometer, good condition units garnering high levels of bidding activity. In general, the quality of vehicles at auction remains somewhat below average as the supply of better-quality vehicles continues to be bought upstream.

Canadian Black Book’s Market Insights Economics & Government

• Gas prices continue to hit record highs, as prices jump 7.8cents per L vs last week.
• Canadian Consumer confidence hits 17 month low. Consumer sentiment is on a downward trajectory, as views on future value of real estate and future strength of the Canadian economy have been weakening over the past few weeks, says Nanos Report.
• The Canadian dollar rose slightly against the USD, finishing the week at $0.78.

U.S. Market

In the U.S., overall, Car and Truck segments (+0.21%) increased for a third consecutive week; the prior week increased by +0.13%. Volume-weighted Car segments increased +0.44%, compared to the prior week’s increase of +0.31%:
· Eight of the nine Car segments increased last week.
· Compact Cars have now increased for eight consecutive weeks, for an average increase of +0.59%. Last week, the segment increased +0.92%.
· Sporty Cars are finally feeling the effects of warmer weather with values increasing for the last 3 weeks, for an average weekly gain of +0.16%.
· Premium Sporty was the only Car segment to decline last week, falling by -0.23%, compared to the prior week’s decline of -0.29%.

Volume-weighted Truck segments increased by +0.10%; the previous week had an increase of +0.05:
· Eight out of the thirteen Truck segments reported increases.
· Full-Size Trucks (+0.08%) returned to increasing values last week, for the first time since the last week of December 2021.
· With the exception of Sub-Compact Luxury Crossover, all other Luxury Crossover/SUV segments reported declines last week. Mid-Size Luxury Crossovers had the largest decline at -0.41%.
· Full-Size Vans returned to increases last week, with a gain of +0.36%. Except for last week’s minimal -0.01% decline, the segment is nearing 70 weeks of increases.

Industry News
· Volkswagen will join the electric off-road market by creating a new company with the Scout nameplate, once used by International Harvester; the Scout brand will begin production in 2026, with an electric pickup truck and SUV duo.
· Bollinger Motors has joined forces with Roush Industries to produce electric platforms for commercial fleets, specifically all-electric Class 3 through 6 platforms and chassis cabs.
· After making headlines, Canoo representative, Pawel Zoneff, clarified that Canoo has the capital to begin production of its Lifestyle Vehicle this year in its Arkansas plant.
· Fisker is now accepting reservations for the electric SUV, the Fisker Pear. This will be the company's second model after the Fisker Ocean and is expected to cost less than $30,000 and be built in Ohio with deliveries starting in 2024.