Based on initial appearances, there are signs indicating the automobile industry is in healthy shape – for now.
Gary Shea’s Lower Sackville, N.S. used car dealership is crammed with vehicles in the parking lot, and sells roughly 100 cars each month.
"There are a ton of cars for sale and the lots are full, everywhere,” said Shea.
However, concerns are growing that there soon could be an inventory shortage in Canada’s used car market.
"And that is simply because during COVID, there were supply issues with new cars,” said automotive journalist Petrina Gentile. “Fewer vehicles were available and sold. That means when you have fewer new vehicles, you will have fewer used vehicles coming to the market."
Post-pandemic, consumers are also changing their spending habits. Rather than purchasing a used car, they are exploring options that get them behind the wheel of the new vehicle.
"We have a large percentage of the market that are payment buyers,” said O’Regan’s dealership marketing VP Susan Johnston. “We are finding people saying, ‘well, I think I’ll just lease that new car.’"
They are also signing on for longer-term leasing agreements.
"Seven, eight-year terms, which means more people are holding onto the new cars and there are less vehicles coming to the used market,” said Gentile.
According to Gentile, with a possible inventory slow-down about to hit the automotive marketplace, there are some basic strategies consumers can deploy.
For starters, car-buyers need to do their homework. The more they shop, the more cars they will see and be best prepared to make a measured decision and maybe even find a good deal.
"If you see a vehicle that you really like, and the price is right, you are probably better off buying that vehicle now and having a peace of mind,” said Gentile, who added, if people wait to make a purchase, they may be forced to pay more because soon, fewer cars could be available.
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Former New Brunswick Liberal premier Frank McKenna says if he were in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s shoes, at this point in the government’s mandate, he would step down.
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Canadian Indigenous leaders say U.S. President Joe Biden’s apology for his country’s residential school system is only the first step toward healing generations of harm.
Israel attacked military targets in Iran with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier in the month.
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Canada Post driver Rick Harper recounts how he and others helped save a woman from a Tesla that caught fire after crashing into a guardrail on Lake Shore Boulevard.
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Israel attacked military targets in Iran with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier in the month.
A Russian drone strike killed a teenager in Kyiv during a nighttime barrage on the Ukrainian capital that lasted for hours, officials said, while four people were reportedly killed in a missile attack on central Ukraine that also left at least 21 injured.
An attack on an Iranian police convoy Saturday in the country's restive southern province of Sistan and Baluchestan killed at least 10 officers authorities said.
Nearly 30 years after they killed their parents, Erik and Lyle Menendez launched a beautification project in the California prison where they're serving life sentences.
Former New Brunswick Liberal premier Frank McKenna says if he were in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s shoes, at this point in the government’s mandate, he would step down.
Heather Thompson is one of 600,000 working-age Canadians with disabilities that the federal government said it would help lift out of poverty with the Canada Disability Benefit, which takes effect next July. The program is meant as a top-up to existing provincial and territorial income supports.
Longtime Liberal MP Wayne Long says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should give more weight to the views of his backbenchers in determining his future leading the Party, rather than relying on those in his immediate orbit.
Children who have coughs that go on for weeks may have a type of walking pneumonia that’s been surging in the U.S. this year, and they may need a different antibiotic regimen to treat it, infectious disease experts say.
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A New Mexico judge has upheld her decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
Tom Holland is getting ready to don his Spidey suit again. The fourth installment of the blockbuster series has been set for a July 2026 release, Sony Pictures said Friday.
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A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he doesn't "think it's fair" nurses and doctors have to pay for parking at the hospitals and health-care facilities that they work at, after CTV News Toronto highlighted the issue earlier this week
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Two minors were in court Friday to face charges after four teenagers were stabbed outside a Montreal high school.
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The GoFundMe page for the family of an employee found dead at a Halifax Walmart last weekend has paused donations after almost $200,000 was raised in roughly 24 hours.
Former New Brunswick Liberal premier Frank McKenna says if he were in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s shoes, at this point in the government’s mandate, he would step down.
New Brunswicker Jillea Godin’s elaborate cosplay pieces attract thousands to her online accounts, as well as celebrities requesting their own pieces.
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Winnipeg police are looking for a suspect after a woman's dorm room was broken into at the U of M and she was assaulted.
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Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, the man who stabbed three people in a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo, says he ‘acted dumb’.
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The Saskatchewan RCMP is releasing the names of two suspects arrested on Thursday for a violent vehicle theft that triggered a widespread police search.
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The Town of Cochrane plans to roll out its $10-lot program in a month or two.
Two people – one from Timmins, the other from Kapuskasing — have been fined more than $7,000 for camping violations, including empty septic tanks directly onto the ground.
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At around 11:00 p.m. a witness saw them break a window at a building in the area of Chiddington Avenue and Compton Crescent.
In case you missed it, CTV News London has gathered all of the top local stories from this week into one video for your convenience.
A new staff report calls for homeless encampments to be allowed even closer to residential neighbourhoods, reducing the buffer zone from 100 metres to 25 metres.
Provincial police say there is an active investigation going on in the Town of Huntsville.
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A 15-year veteran officer with the South Simcoe Police Service has been charged with discreditable conduct following an allegation of sexual assault.
In case you missed it, CTV News Windsor has compiled all of the top local stories from this week into one video.
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More than two years after Alannah Brown and Douglas Barker were found dead north of Penticton, police are asking for help identifying a vehicle they believe was associated with the crime.
Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
About 15,000 students are enrolled at Lethbridge’s post-secondary schools, and now the city is working with those schools to try to find ways to get them s to stick around a while.
With Halloween less than a week away, organizations in Lethbridge are preparing to get in on the trick-or-treating fun.
The City of Lethbridge is bringing forward a water conservation policy, the first of its kind for the city.
The union that represents hospital workers across the province is used a symbol from Greek mythology Friday in Espanola to drive home its campaign about the perils of privatization in health care.
CTV's Coats for Kids is nearing the end of its donation window, with the need as strong as it’s ever been.
The Anishinabek Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the circumstances around a death in Fort William First Nation.
Teams are facing off in a new eastern Newfoundland hockey league aiming to bring competitive play — and a few extra years on the ice — for young women in the province.
Investigators found the remains of a 77-year-old American man on Wednesday at the scene of a fire that destroyed a hotel in western Newfoundland earlier on the weekend.
Police in western Newfoundland say a 77-year-old man visiting the province from Kansas is missing after a fire at a hotel in Deer Lake, N.L.
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