If there is one segment of the economy that has little regard for all the negative sentiment in financial circles, it is new vehicle sales.
Saskatchewan automotive dealers have been riding a wave of demand as winter came to a close this year as the volume of new units leaving their lots is in pretty heady territory.
It is unusual for us to see 5,000 new vehicles change hands in a single month but that happened in both March and April of this year in the province. Here is some perspective on those numbers. It is roughly 1,000 more units – or a 25-percent increase – over the same month last year.
Now, these are new vehicles only so previously owned units are not included in this tally.
Part of the reason may be demand being pulled forward as people were scrambling to renew their rides before the full impact of tariffs worked their way through the system, however, the bulk of that buying should have been over in March so April’s strong numbers may mean this is more of a statement about consumer confidence.
