Canada Drivers Spent Average of $31,723 for New Car

[rickaren]

OTTAWA — A new report says the average amount spent on new motor vehicles sold in Canada fell in 2007, the first drop since 2001.

Statistics Canada says drivers spent an average $31,723 for each new motor vehicle in 2007, down two per cent from $32,386 in 2006 - a reflection of both changing tastes and prices.

The agency says the traditional Big Three automakers no longer controlled a majority of the market for North American-built passenger cars in 2007, as their Canadian market share fell to 49.1 per cent.

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler accounted for 67.9 per cent of North-American-built passenger cars sold in Canada in 2000.

Dealers sold 1,690,538 new vehicles in 2007, 1.5 per cent more than in 2006 and the second-highest level since data was first collected in 1946.

LINK:The Canadian Press: Canadians spend less on each new motor vehicle in 2007: StatsCan

In 1992, passenger cars made up about two-thirds of new vehicle sales, while in 2007 they accounted for only 50.8 per cent.

Sales of passenger cars slipped 0.5 per cent to 859,003 in 2007, mostly among North American-built models, where sales fell for the fourth time in five years.

Dealers sold a record 831,535 new trucks - minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses - 3.5 per cent more than in 2006.

In total, households and businesses spent $53.6 billion on new vehicles in 2007, a 0.6 per cent decline from 2006.