Current Market Trend: Rise of Light Trucks

A recent report from DesRosiers Automotive indicates a recovery in light vehicle deliveries, however still a ways away from 2019 results.

North American light vehicle manufacturing has all but fallen to ground zero as of April 2020.

Despite the easing of sanitary regulations, production, particularly due to shortages of electronic components, remains relatively slow.

Resumption of shipments

The report states that in April of this year, 1.03 million units of light vehicles were built, compared with 6,523 units on the same date in 2020.

This is a remarkable increase, but it falls short of 2019 volumes when 1.34 million units were delivered in April. Comparing 2020 and 2021 deliveries, there is an average increase of 20.5% in production.

Passenger cars saw a 7.8% increase while light trucks are up 30.1%. The market trend towards light trucks continues.

According to figures compiled by DesRosiers, more than 80% of new vehicle sales in the first part of 2021 were light trucks.

In April 2021, Canadian plants delivered 80,664 vehicles, including 55,168 light trucks.

For the first quarter of 2021:

• Deliveries showed a slight increase of 2.6%, 76.1% of which were light trucks.
• The automotive aftermarket was down 1.9% compared to the same period last year.

Average value increases

The average selling price of light-duty vehicles in the Canadian market was up in all provinces compared to 2020.

Light trucks saw their average value rise from $41,381 to $41,940 in one year.