Running low
New car and truck sales in 2021
By Siddhartha Bhattacharya, ATB Economics 15 February 2022 less than a minute
Car sales in Alberta continued to worsen in December. The number of new motor vehicles sold was 12,866 in December 2021, down 6.7% (918) from 12 months earlier and the lowest count for December since 1998.
December marked the sixth consecutive year-over-year pullback in units sold in Alberta, in line with the pattern experienced nationally.
The value of sales stood at $740 million in the month. Despite a steep 9.8% increase in average prices, this was only 2.5% ($17.8 million) higher than the value of sales in December 2020.
In aggregate, almost 196,000 new vehicles were sold in Alberta last year. While this was 6.3% (11,565) higher than in 2020, it was about 12% (27,044) below the pre-pandemic level set in 2019.
Similarly, the number of new vehicles sold in Canada was 5.3% (84,397) higher last year relative to 2020, but 15.3% (303,634) below its 2019 level, reflecting the drastic impact of global chip shortages experienced by the auto sector last year.
Answer to the previous trivia question: On average, an adult's heart weighs about 10 ounces.
Today’s trivia question: What is the fastest production car in the world?
Economics News