Just as it did for nearly every facet of the global economy, the pandemic plunged Canada’s new car market into upheaval, throwing supply and demand completely out of whack, reports the Canadian news channel CBC.
They spoke to an Edmonton resident, Jennifer Nemeth, who approached various automakers and was told there would be an eight-year wait for her preferred new car – a plug-in Toyota Rav4 Prime. It was reported she eventually settled on putting down a deposit for a non plug-in hybrid version of the same car, but was told it, too, would likely be a year away.
Huw Williams, head of public affairs for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) says that while things are closer to normal than they’ve been in a while, there are still large gaps in the chain — and they’re often company-specific.
“There are automakers who — for whatever reason, it’s not even always clear to us — are doing a better job of managing their supply chain,” said Williams. “But every dealer in the country wants more cars but can’t get them.”
Rebekah Young, an economist with Scotiabank told CBC the average price of a Canadian passenger vehicle is just over $45,000 right now. That figure is up by 30% since 2019. “A big part it was auto makers dedicating their limited supply of components into their most profitable vehicles,” she said.
Semiconductors were in acutely short supply for much of 2020 and 2021, Young says, a situation that impacted the availability of everything from iPhones to fridges and cars.
While Young says the semiconductor shortage is getting better, it’s still not over, and in the interim, the price of everything from copper and aluminum to rubber, steel and labour is sharply higher than it used to be.
For more help with looking at supply chain options, contact Astute Electronics
