STAMFORD, Conn. -

April marked another increase in the Canadian dollar’s value versus the U.S. dollar, which led to wholesale prices in Canada falling close to 2 percent on a month-over-month basis, according to RVI Group.

Despite climbing 12.5 percent year-over-year, Canadian wholesale prices dropped 1.8 percent sequentially.

Wayne Westring, manager for RVI Analytical Services, told Auto Remarketing Canada this week that exchange rates in Canada “have been climbing non-stop, basically, for the last few months,” and this played a part in the month-over-month wholesale drop.

Specifically, the U.S.-Canadian exchange rate has climbed for 10 straight months (July through April) and hit a 17-year high in April, Westring said.

“With the strengthening of the Canadian dollar, it adds to the gray market,” Westring explained, referring to the practice of Canadian sellers going into the U.S. to buy vehicles at cheaper prices (given the favorable exchange rate) then selling the vehicles in Canada.

This practice, of course, pushes down wholesale values.

Moving on to look at the aforementioned year-over-year increase, Westring pointed out that April’s level was compared against relatively low levels from a year ago.

That said, he did note that there has been economic improvement in Canada over the past year, which helped the yearly increase, as well.

Segment Trends

Continuing on, RVI’s analysis also included a breakdown of segment trends. Not surprisingly, gas prices played a big role in April as they reached almost $1.30/liter, the company said.

In fact, sub-compacts showed the only sequential increase during April (up 1.9 percent), while less fuel-efficient segments were down for the most part.

Midsize SUVs showed the heftiest decrease in value from March among volume segments (down 4 percent), while small SUVs were off 3.2 percent, and luxury SUVs dropped 2.4 percent.

Interestingly enough, full-size pickups were flat month-over-month, making them the only volume segment other than sub-compacts not to decrease in value.

Compared to April 2010, all volume segments were up in value. The top increase was seen in compacts (up 20.4 percent), followed by subcompacts (up 20.2 percent).

When asked about this year’s gas-price surge and how it compares to 2008 in terms of consumer reaction, Westring said that it might not necessarily be that consumers are used to such high prices, but the shock is no longer present.

“I think we’re a little more numb to that now,” Westring said, also stressing that the market has not yet reached the fuel prices seen in 2008.