If there were any doubts that Canadian consumers remain "highly price sensitive", the February zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales data should put them to rest, said Bank of Montreal (BMO) in an overnight note.
After significantly underperforming over the past year, down roughly 36% year over year, or more than 94,000 units, the final 13 days of February, which followed the reinstatement of federal incentives, were enough to drive ZEV sales up 47% year over year, noted the bank.
That pushed ZEVs back above 10% of new vehicle sales, up from less than 7% a year ago.
"With the conflict in Iran pushing global energy prices higher in March, ZEV sales could see further near-term support when that data is released," added BMO.
Regionally, it was overwhelmingly a Quebec story, with ZEV sales up a "staggering" 153% year over year, versus roughly 17% in Ontario and about 5% in British Columbia, noted out the bank.
Further evidence of price sensitivity comes from the United States, where ZEV sales fell 19% year over year in February as the loss of federal tax credits continued to reshape demand, according to BMO. While the segment showed some month-over-month improvement in March, sales were still down more than 30% year over year, it said.