- BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba sold 383,139 new vehicles from January to August 2026, 2.5% fewer than in 2025, though August was up 6.9%.
- BC and Alberta dealer lots held 156,643 vehicles on November 5: 96,419 new and 60,224 used, at median advertised prices of $58,665 and $31,998.
- From January 1, 2027, BC dealers need a restricted insurance agency licence to keep selling credit protection, GAP and vehicle warranty insurance. Applications open January 4 and must be in by March 31.
New vehicle sales by province, January to August 2026
| Province | Aug 2026 | vs Aug 2025 | Jan–Aug 2026 | Jan–Aug 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia* | 19,112 | +9.2% | 144,801 | 147,746 | −2.0% |
| Alberta | 19,628 | +1.2% | 158,941 | 163,343 | −2.7% |
| Saskatchewan | 5,566 | +13.7% | 37,481 | 38,294 | −2.1% |
| Manitoba | 6,002 | +13.6% | 41,916 | 43,405 | −3.4% |
| Western Canada | 50,308 | +6.9% | 383,139 | 392,788 | −2.5% |
| Canada | 174,611 | +4.9% | 1,330,381 | 1,348,850 | −1.4% |
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 20-10-0085-01, new motor vehicle sales, unadjusted units (latest month released October 15; September follows in mid-November). *BC includes the territories. The West is 28.8% of national sales this year. DesRosiers estimates September national sales rose 3.4%, a fourth straight monthly gain, leaving the year 0.7% behind 2025.
What is on BC and Alberta lots: 156,643 vehicles
Stellaxis tracks 1,165 BC and Alberta dealers, franchise and independent. Here is what was on their lots on November 5, 2026.
- Independents hold about a quarter of used stock (26%), at a median of $20,102. Used units on franchise lots have a median of $35,995.
- SUVs are more than half of used stock (54%), with cars and pickups about a fifth each.
- Used prices are lowest in Victoria and on Vancouver Island (medians of $27,700 and $28,892) and highest in rural regions where pickups are a bigger share of stock, such as central Alberta ($37,988).
- Electric stock is about 8% of vehicles in the Lower Mainland and Victoria, and under 1% in central and northern Alberta.
Prices are advertised prices, not selling prices. Motorcycles and RVs are not included. Next month adds days on lot, turn and price cuts. Data as of .
BC and Alberta deals on the public record in 2026
- Go Auto, Calgary: the Edmonton group announced on May 1 that it bought Lone Star Mercedes-Benz, its first Mercedes-Benz store in Canada, now Mercedes-Benz South Calgary.
- Go Auto real estate: W. P. Carey bought 14 Go Auto dealership properties in Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg for C$287 million (about US$210 million) in a deal that closed in March, and leased them back for 25 years.
- Kot Auto Group, Duncan: the Kelowna group bought Duncan Hyundai in June, its 12th dealership acquisition, adding to its Vancouver Island stores in Victoria, Langford and Nanaimo.
- AutoCanada, BC: sold Island Chevrolet Buick GMC in Duncan, Abbotsford Volkswagen and Chilliwack Volkswagen in July for about $32.2 million. Harris Auto Group announced the same day that Island Chevrolet Buick GMC had joined it, bringing Harris to 12 franchised dealerships. The three stores had about $111 million in revenue and a $1 million net loss over the prior 12 months, and sat outside AutoCanada's core clusters.
- AutoCanada, collision: in October it bought two Colorworks Autobody shops in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam and hired TD Securities to run a strategic review of its collision business.
- Summit Automotive Group: in the court process for the group's Alberta and BC stores, the sale of Arrow Volkswagen closed in March and the store now runs as Cranbrook Volkswagen. Castle Ford went to Davis Auto Group in February, and Sun Valley Nissan was approved for sale to Dawson Automotive in July. Cranbrook Mitsubishi, Vermilion Chrysler and Squamish Chrysler were wound down.
- Commercial trucks: on November 2, Velocity Truck Centres closed its purchase of New West Truck Centres, adding seven Alberta and BC locations for 24 across Western Canada.
- Dealer software: Valsoft bought Calgary's Quorum in December 2025, and Calgary's PBS, whose system runs more than 3,500 dealerships, bought Dealer Image Pro in April. Fewer, larger owners now sit behind the systems Western dealers use.
The dates dealers need to plan for
Plan the F&I licence and check your exposure to US-built and Canadian-built stock.
New F&I licence rules take effect. Dealers selling credit protection, GAP or vehicle warranty insurance need a restricted insurance agency licence, a designated representative (an officer, director, partner or sole proprietor) and trained sales staff.
Tariff deadline. Without a Canada-US deal, the US tariff on Canadian-built vehicles rises from 25% to 50%. Talks broke down after an August framework and have since resumed.
Applications open. The Insurance Council of BC starts taking restricted insurance agency licence applications.
Apply-by date. Dealers must have applied by this date to keep selling these products.
Alberta dealers: the Superintendent of Insurance's Interpretation Bulletin 05-2024 (revised December 19, 2024) treats dealership loyalty programs and vehicle protection products as insurance, and the Alberta Insurance Council requires dealers to hold a restricted certificate to sell them.
This is a summary, not legal advice. Check with the Insurance Council of BC, the VSA, AMVIC or your counsel before changing how you sell F&I products.
Customer satisfaction: the lever you can measure this month
Each issue takes one of the eight drivers Value Builder uses to score a business's value. Its research finds companies where more than 75% of customers are very satisfied are worth about 4.1 times earnings, against 2.2 times when fewer than 25% are.
- Ask one question after every sale and repair order: "How likely are you to recommend us, from 0 to 10?" Track the share of 9s and 10s minus the share of 0 to 6s, monthly.
- Call every 0 to 6 within two days. Quick fixes turn unhappy customers into repeat ones.
- Track service retention: how many vehicles you sold last year came back for paid service. To raise it, book the first service appointment before the vehicle leaves the lot, send a text reminder at each service interval, and offer a prepaid maintenance plan at delivery.
Where does your dealership stand? Alex Lambert of Stellaxis is an Accredited Value Builder Advisor. He works with business owners to find what drives the value of their company and to raise it, using the proven Value Builder method: a score on all eight drivers, a plan to lift the weakest ones, and steady progress you can measure. Ask Alex about a Value Builder assessment.
Start with the data you already own
Most dealers already hold a daily picture of the business inside their dealer management system: vehicles and days on the lot, deals and gross, F&I, service and parts. The practical first step is not a new tool. Check which scheduled reports your PBS or other dealer system can already send; many have reporting features that go unused.
The next step is to look at the dashboards and app integrations that can put that data to work. Stellaxis offers an online dashboard that tracks your inventory daily and sends an automatic alert when a vehicle starts to sit too long, so you and your managers see it early.
The June 2024 cyberattack on CDK, which serves about 15,000 dealer locations in North America and disrupted hundreds of Canadian dealerships, is the other lesson: keep a copy of your own numbers outside your dealer system. A third-party dashboard, like the one Stellaxis offers, holds that secure backup for you.
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Sources
- Statistics Canada, Table 20-10-0085-01, New motor vehicle sales, monthly, accessed October 29, 2026.
- Statistics Canada, The Daily, New motor vehicle sales, August 2026, October 15, 2026.
- DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, September 2026 sales estimate, reported by The Globe and Mail, October 2026.
- Stellaxis, BC and Alberta dealer inventory database (1,165 franchise and independent dealers), as of November 5, 2026.
- Government of BC, "Strengthening consumer protection for add-on insurance sales", December 18, 2025, and Insurance Council of BC, Restricted Insurance Agency licence (applications open January 4, 2027).
- Alberta Insurance Council, Superintendent of Insurance Interpretation Bulletin 05-2024 (revised December 19, 2024), and the Council's Information Bulletin 2024-01 on restricted certificates.
- The Hub, "Honda warns Jan. 1 tariff doubling would be 'catastrophic'", October 29, 2026.
- Summit Automotive Group CCAA proceedings: BDO Canada, monitor's court documents and Goldhar & Associates, substitute monitor; Proceedings, "Summit Auto Group: the last dealership finds a buyer", July 24, 2026.
- Go Auto, "Go Auto acquires Lone Star Mercedes-Benz, marking first Mercedes-Benz store in Canada", May 1, 2026; RENX, "W. P. Carey acquires 14 Western Canada Go Auto dealerships: $287M", 2026; IREI, "W. P. Carey completes sale-leaseback of Western Canada auto portfolio", April 7, 2026; W. P. Carey, Q1 2026 investment volume (SEC filing).
- Canadian Auto Dealer, "KOT Auto Group expands Hyundai footprint with Duncan acquisition", June 3, 2026.
- AutoCanada, "AutoCanada completes sale of three British Columbia dealerships", July 15, 2026, and "AutoCanada acquires two Metro Vancouver collision repair facilities", October 8, 2026; Harris Auto Group, Island Chevrolet Buick GMC announcement, July 15, 2026.
- Velocity Truck Centres, "New West Truck Centres joins Velocity Truck Centres", November 2, 2026.
- Valsoft Corporation, closing of the Quorum Information Technologies acquisition, December 10, 2025; PBS Systems, "PBS Systems announces acquisition of Dealer Image Pro", April 1, 2026.
- Global News, CDK Global cyberattacks and car dealerships, June 25, 2024.
- Value Builder System: the eight drivers of company value and customer satisfaction research.
This update is general information only, not financial, legal, tax or investment advice. Figures are estimates drawn from public sources and Stellaxis's own market tracking as of the dates shown, and may contain errors or change. Please verify any number independently before relying on it.