New motor vehicle registrations, third quarter 2022
Released: 2023-01-24
In the third quarter of 2022, 394,348 new motor vehicles were registered in Canada, declining 8.7% from the second quarter of 2022 and 11.7% from the third quarter of 2021. Registrations of new motor vehicles in the third quarter have decreased each year since 2017.
Most vehicle types declined in the third quarter of 2022 compared with one year earlier. Vans (-41.5%) experienced the most significant decrease, followed by passenger cars (-20.5%) and multi-purpose vehicles (-14.8%). Pickup trucks (+16.1%) were the only vehicle type to increase year over year. Despite their decline from the third quarter of 2021, multi-purpose vehicles still comprised the majority (54.7%) of new motor vehicles registered during the third quarter of 2022, albeit a lower proportion than that recorded the same period one year earlier (56.7%).
During the third quarter, new registrations of gasoline-powered vehicles declined 17.0% from the same quarter of 2021. The share of gasoline-powered vehicles also declined year-over-year, from representing 86.1% in the third quarter of 2021 to 80.9% in the third quarter of 2022. New registrations of hybrid electric vehicles decreased 10.0% from one year earlier, but their share of total new registrations increased slightly, from 5.4% to 5.5%. New registrations of diesel-powered vehicles increased 36.6% from the third quarter of 2021.
Share of zero-emission vehicles approaches 10%
Overall, 34,313 new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) were registered in the third quarter of 2022, comprising 8.7% of total new motor vehicle registrations. The number of new ZEVs registered continued to increase, up 43.2% year over year. Continuing the trend seen over the last four years, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up the largest share of new ZEV registrations, representing 85.6% of new ZEVs registered in the third quarter. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) comprised the other 14.4% of new ZEV registrations. Year over year, BEVs (+85.4%) experienced the largest percentage increase among all fuel types, while PHEVs (-39.2%) saw the largest percentage decline.
Canada's three largest provinces accounted for 91.8% of all new ZEVs registered in the third quarter. The most ZEVs were registered in Quebec (12,194), followed by Ontario (11,017) and British Columbia (8,293). Nearly one in five of all new vehicles (17.6%) registered in British Columbia was a ZEV, the highest percentage of any province. The share of ZEVs among new motor vehicle registrations was 12.5% in Quebec and 7.2% in Ontario.
In the third quarter, new ZEV registrations in Ontario increased 113.4% compared with one year earlier. They also increased in Quebec (+14.9%), British Columbia (+28.0%), Manitoba (+61.3%), Saskatchewan (+55.0%) and New Brunswick (+39.0%). Prince Edward Island (-18.0%) was the lone province to experience a decrease in new ZEV registrations, after reporting significant gains over the previous four quarters.
The table New zero-emission vehicle registrations, quarterly, provides a breakdown of new ZEV registrations by sub-provincial geographical regions. In the third quarter of 2022, the census metropolitan area with the highest number of new ZEV registrations was Montréal (6,840), while Toronto (6,497) and Vancouver (6,271) followed closely.
Note to readers
Estimates for Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Alberta are currently unavailable because of contractual limitations of the existing data sharing agreement. However, they are included in the Canadian total.
This survey looks at registrations of new motor vehicles in the provinces and territories in a given year.
Estimates for British Columbia include the territories.
Products
The "New motor vehicle registrations: Quarterly data visualization tool," a new interactive tool that allows users to compare and analyze new zero-emission motor vehicle registration data by fuel type and geography, is now available online.
Geospatial quarterly data on new zero-emission motor vehicle registrations are now available on the Canadian Statistical Geospatial Explorer Hub, which is part of the series Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products (71-607-X).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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