Canadian Legislative Issues

Record Year for Canadian Fleet Sales

Much has been made of the fact that the Canadian vehicle market posted a third straight record year in 2015, with just under 1.9 million new vehicles rolling off dealers’ lots. Less well known, however, is that only a little over 1.5 million of those cars were purchased by consumers. The remainder – well in excess of 300,000 vehicles – represented a record year for Canadian fleet sales last year.

Total fleet sales eclipsed 300,000 for the first time in Canada last year and by a wide margin, coming in at 335,850. That represented massive growth of more than 15 per cent over 2014 fleet sales, with total fleet sales growth hitting 34 per cent since 2010. Across Canada, fleet buyers are taking advantage of the same fundamentals driving record consumer demand: a very high value proposition in today’s new vehicles.

In fact, consumer sales were essentially flat last year, with the huge bump in fleet sales providing almost all of the total sales growth experienced in the Canadian market in 2015. Consumer sales set a record in 2015, but did not achieve anywhere near the 15 per cent growth posted by Canadian fleet demand.

With total vehicle sales up more than nine per cent through the first quarter of 2016, it is likely another record year is on its way. Though another year of 15 per cent growth will be tough to match for Canadian fleet buyers, they will continue to contribute heavily to retail auto growth – one of the few very bright spots in the Canadian macroeconomic picture.

All numbers ©Desrosiers Automotive Consultants