DesRosiers Automotive Consultants has worked with the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) for more than 25 years monitoring and supporting the dealer community across Canada.

Looking at total dealer counts for 2020, overall numbers remained fairly stable with 3,706 new vehicle dealer franchises active as of year-end, up by just 2 from 2019.

At the brand level, Genesis added 6 franchises versus the previous year.

Ford added 3 and Fiat alongside Jaguar-Land Rover added 2 respectively, while Audi and Hyundai added 1 each.

A number of brands also noted dealer franchise count decreases for the year, but this was constrained to between 1 and 3 locations.

“As a result of stable dealer franchise counts coupled with the diminished sales of 2020,” commented DAC

“Most brands have seen their sales per dealer franchise figures decrease sharply for the year.” Average sales per dealer franchise across the market dropped from 517 units in 2019 to 415 units in 2020.“

“The sole increase for the year was noted by Cadillac, up from 98 to 102 units sold. In terms of volume, Toyota topped the chart with 691 units sold per dealer franchise on average. Mercedes-Benz followed at a distance at 600, with Subaru rounding out the top three at 555,“ adds DAC.

“Both the luxury and mass market brands suffered setbacks since 2019, with the luxury brands performing only marginally better on average.“