EDMONTON -

After a strong start to the year, with used retail unit sales up 16% year-over-year for the first two months of 2020, pre-owned sales in Canada for AutoCanada started to take a hit in mid-March amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But based on the latest quarterly earnings results shared in early June, used-car sales for the group began to grow again in May. 

Following that 16% spike in Canadian used-vehicle retail sales for January and February, AutoCanada’s used retail unit sales were up 4% year-over-year for the first 15 days of March. 

Sales for the back half of the month were down 44%, which was followed by a 38% year-over-year decline in April. Then, used-car sales for May were up 4%.
Looking at Canadian highlights from the company’s earnings release, AutoCanada’s used-to-new retail-unit ratio for the three months ending March 31 was 1.08, up from 0.85 in the first quarter of 2019.

AutoCanada reported that same-store used retail sales were up 2.4% year-over-year for the quarter.

On a same-store basis, the used-to-new ratio was 1.10, up from 0.89.

A table recapping consolidated operational data for the dealer group showed that AutoCanada sold 6,409 used retail vehicles during the first quarter, down 1.7% from Q1 2019. Breaking that down, 5,681 were in Canada and 728 were in the U.S. 

Same-store used retail unit sales came in at 5,458 for the quarter, up 2.4%.

Used-vehicle revenue was $229,335 for the quarter, compared to $188,619 a year ago. Of the Q1 2020 total, $204,063 was in Canada and $25,292 was in the U.S.

In other company news, AutoCanada held its annual meeting on June 25. In addition to announcing that all resolutions were passed, there was an election for company directors for the next year.

Voted as directors were the following nominees:

Paul Antony
Dennis DesRosiers
Stephen Green
Barry James
Maryann Keller
Elias Olmeta
Michael Rawluk