The number of vehicles purchased by Albertans is on a downward trend, according to recent Statistics Canada data.
“Sales of new motor vehicles are one way to gauge the overall direction of the economy. As with a number of other key indicators, new vehicle sales are pointing to reduced consumer confidence and sluggish economic growth in Alberta in 2019,” said ATB Financial’s economics and research team in its The Owl daily economic update.
“Albertans purchased 14,408 new vehicles in February 2019. This was down 4.9 per cent from February 2018. Using a 12-month moving average to account for seasonal fluctuations in sales, the number of units sold fell 11 times between February 2018 and February 2019. Adjusting for population increase, annual sales were down by 6.2 per cent in 2018 and by 19.0 per cent compared to 2014.”
ATB said new vehicle sales in Alberta totalled $11.1 billion last year, about $54 million more than in 2017 but still $273 million below the value of sales in 2014. Nationally, sales came to $85.5 billion in 2018 with Alberta accounting for 13 per cent.
– Mario Toneguzzi
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