We are not buying new vehicles like we used to here in Saskatchewan.
Even though the province’s population is growing, we are paying fewer visits to SGI to register new vehicles. Either we’re making due with older units for longer or we are simply finding alternate modes of transportation.
The cycle for new vehicle purchases is also pretty clear.
StatsCan tracks new registrations on a quarterly basis and Q2 – from April to June – is where the numbers peak. Summer is second-highest with Q4 producing the lowest numbers. The gap between the high and low is about somewhere between three and four thousand units.
The latest figures are from the end of June and show we licensed 12,350 new units in that quarter. That compares to more than 13,500 a year earlier, a decline of roughly 10 per cent.
We are also seeing a shift in consumer preferences. The number of new diesel-powered units was off about 25 per cent while electric vehicles and hybrids were winning consumer affection with an increase of more than 50 per cent with hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric showing the largest market share growth.
