It is starting to look like there is a new normal in the retail automotive sector in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan residents, like most of the people in this big country, have always had a love affair with their vehicle. Driving to our destination is the norm, unlike more densely populated countries where trains often replace cars.
But COVID put a real dent in the relationship between buyers and sellers of new vehicles as supply chain interruptions reduced inventory and travel restrictions cramped our road-warrior style.
But there are now signs that we have found a new normal on this front. StatsCan has just released data on sales of new vehicles for January of this year. And it marks the six consecutive month of year-over-year increases in the number of units leaving dealer lots.
For the previous couple years, the year-over-year sales figures were lagging pre-pandemic levels. Manufacturers struggled to deliver new inventory that dealers could put in the hands of eager buyers who often had to wait for months for a new unit on order to be delivered.
