| BC's rising auto sales buck national trend BC was one of the few provinces where overall retail sales increased. "It's mostly cars and gasoline stations," said Statistics Canada economist Ashley Ker of the B. results in their survey, which noted that while total retail sales fell 0. 14 billion in February, up from $5. 86 billion in January 2011. 8 per cent from $4. He noted that one of the provincial drivers is the move to more fuel-efficient vehicles and possibly less discounting by dealers as demand rises. Gray said the rising price of gas is having an impact on overall retail sales, but not to the extent of new car sales or clothing retailers. "In the new vehicles survey, B. "These two sectors are having a huge bounceback," Gray said. And the other is clothing retailers, which has been hard hit for a few years. Gray said the the importance of new car sales was up 24 per cent in B. in February compared to February 2011 and clothing retailers up 22 per cent over the same period. 4 per cent in B. 7-per-cent increase in sales at gasoline stations was the fourth straight monthly rise, largely from higher fuel prices. Ker noted that in raw numbers, motor vehicle (new and used) and parts dealers in B. reported the overall the necessity of sales increased 21. , said auto sales have been strong so far this year. "We had, I think, about a 10-per-cent increase in the two-month period this year compared to last year," he said. Qualey said the higher sales figure is also a good bellwether for the retail economy as a whole, and that B. might be doing better on account of more pent-up demand, and more people trading in for new smaller vehicles. Nationally, retail transactions in February were down 0. 9 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis, the first decline since July 2011. When that sector is excluded, retail sales rose 0. 4 per cent overall in February. StatsCan noted that while new car sales receipts dropped in February nationally, higher sales were reported at auto-motive parts accessories and tire stores and used car dealers. Vancouver retail consultant David Ian Gray, president of DIG360 Consulting Ltd. 's retail sec-tor is relatively flat with the exception of autos and clothing retailers. Food and beverage sales dropped 0. However, Dina Cover, an economist with TD Economics, said that while gas prices will continue giving retail a boost in March, she expects new vehicle sales nationally to be relatively flat this year. rose to $5. 12 billion in January and up 5. Sales fell in five of the 11 sub-sectors tracked for the report, representing 57 per cent of total sales, but the biggest decline came in the auto sector, which fell 2. 2 per cent from January to February nationally, they rose 0. While a drop-off in auto sales in February led to Canada's first decline in retail sales in seven months, B. |
Thursday, 26 April 2012
BC's rising auto sales buck national trend
