The OPENLANE Canada Used Vehicle Price Index has been updated through January 2026. The index decreased by 0.9 after being adjusted for seasonality.

It is estimated that January 2026 auto sales were 114,000 units. This is a year-over-year decline of ~3% or a loss of approximately 4000 units. Given continued economic uncertainty and challenging weather patterns, January 2026 auto sales were to be expected. Looking back at January 2025, the industry saw the start of a sales pull ahead initiated by potential tariff announcements that both consumers and OEMs tried out run.

As we move into the spring market, a significant seasonality bump overcomes expected degradation. After back-to-back seasonal declines in the fall and early winter of 2025, the early 2026 selling period has the highest seasonal positivity each year.

The Canadian industry has seen increased incentives which are negatively impacting residual values in select segments. This coincides with higher pricing on newly released 2026 Model Year vehicles that leads to the slight decline in the forecast.

As we move into the spring market, the industry will be watching and comparing the spring surge of 2025 to how the industry manages 2026.

Price movements by segment were mostly negative in January. Compact SUV showed the most decrease at -7.4% ($1,682), Midsize SUV at -5.9% ($1,629), Fullsize Pickup at -2.4% ($873), and Minivan at -1.5% ($347). Increases were seen with Midsize at 10.1% ($1,628) and Mid Compact at 1.7% ($278).