Led by Alberta, Western Canada will propel national auto sales to record highs, predicts the Canadian Auto Report.
With more than half of their vehicles nine years or older, Western Canadians are expected to lift full-year purchases across Canada to a record 1.705 million units in 2003, said the report published by Scotia Economics.
“Alberta is expected to lead the advance and will be the only province with record volumes for the fourth consecutive year,” said Carlos Gomes, Scotiabank’s auto industry specialist.
“In 2003, we expect purchases in Alberta to climb to 202,000 units, up from last year’s record of 200,000 units.”
Record sales in Alberta reflect a rebound in the energy sector alongside the highest oil prices since the Gulf War in 1990-91. The province is also benefiting from an increasingly diverse economy, with job creation consistently outpacing the national average over the past two years.
The Prairies have Canada’s oldest vehicle fleet with the number of vehicles nine years or older now standing at 1.8 million units, nearly double the number of nearly new models four years old or less.
However, purchases will be held back by weak farm income due to drought conditions in the past two crop years.
“We expect sales in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to ease to 87,000 units this year from 88,000 in 2002,” adds Gomes.
“Nevertheless, 2003 is expected to be the second-best year of the past decade.”
Scotia Economics, part of the Scotiabank Group, provides clients with research into the factors shaping the outlook for Canada and the global economy.
