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Electric vehicle sales in Canada plummeted in March by 44 per cent compared to a year ago, even though the overall number of new vehicles sold ticked up, according to Statistics Canada.
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The agency on Wednesday said 189,259 new vehicles were sold in March, up 9.4 per cent year over year.
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“This gain was largely attributable to sales of new light trucks,” it said on its website.
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Light truck sales rose 13.5 per cent, but there was a 10.9 per cent decline in passenger car sales.
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The decline in EV sales was the most noticeable difference in the marketplace, with 12,347 new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) sold in March, compared to 22,390 a year ago.
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Zero-emission vehicles made up 6.5 per cent of total new motor vehicles sold in March.
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The decline in EV sales may be due to the end of consumer rebate programs that helped shave thousands of dollars off the price of an EV.
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Transport Canada in January “paused” its financial incentive program, which had provided up to $5,000 to EV buyers, and Quebec in February stopped its EV rebate program, which had provided as much as $7,000, but it later replenished the program’s funds so consumers can now receive up to $4,000 back.
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Analysts have also pointed to United States tariffs as a cause for the decline in EV sales since they may be leading some consumers to delay making a large purchase such as a vehicle, but that would not explain the disparity between the growth in light truck sales and the decline in EV sales.
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Automakers and their lobby groups are likely to point to the latest data as they push Prime Minister Mark Carney to scrap or at least revise the country’s EV mandate, which requires 20 per cent of all new vehicles to be ZEVs by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030.
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