Canadians are moving away from luxury vehicles, data show

Baris Akyurek is the vice-president of insights and intelligence at AutoTrader.

Canadian car shoppers are increasingly looking away from luxury and performance vehicles and toward mainstream brands. At a time of economic uncertainty and car prices that have risen significantly over the past five years, search and sales data show how Canadians are shifting their thinking about what to drive.

At any given time, AutoTrader has around 350,000 new and used vehicles for sale on the site that has more than 10 million monthly unique visitors. That volume of activity, combined with thorough research and analytics, gives us a clear view of how Canadians buy cars - from initial intent to research and, finally, purchase.

Performance and luxury cars have consistently appeared among AutoTrader’s top-10 most-searched vehicles list, including the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Corvette, and (my personal elusive catch) the Porsche 911 - but these aren’t the cars Canadians are buying in large numbers.

Let’s look at the top 10 cars consumers searched for in 2025. Although several performance and luxury vehicles still appear on the list, luxury searches declined a substantial 11 per cent year-over-year, compared to just a 2-per-cent decline for mainstream brands over the same period. So while some performance and luxury vehicles may rank high on search, luxury as a category declined more significantly compared to mainstream brands in 2025.

2025 Top Searched Vehicles on AutoTrader

1. Ford F-150
2. Toyota RAV4
3. Honda Civic
4. Ford Mustang
5. Chevrolet Corvette
6. Porsche 911
7. BMW 3 Series
8. Honda CR-V
9. Toyota Tacoma
10. Mercedes-Benz C-Class

Compared to the time period before the pandemic, vehicles across all segments are more expensive – much like everything else. There are several reasons behind this trend, which I explore in more detail in AutoTrader’s Price Index report.

Over all, we estimate an approximately 8-per-cent decline in used-car sales in 2025 compared to 2021, when the market was particularly hot, owing to supply constraints with new vehicles that pushed up demand on used vehicles.

While both mainstream and luxury brands experienced declines in used-car sales over that period, the drop was much more pronounced for luxury brands (-11.6 per cent) than for mainstream brands (-7 per cent). Luxury brands also lost overall share of sales during the same period.

In 2025, used-car sales as a whole saw a slight year-over-year uptick, driven by higher sales of mainstream brands, while luxury brands experienced an estimated 2.7-per-cent decline in sales.

Looking at the top sold list, more affordable mainstream brands are gaining traction in both searches and sales.

2025 Top Sold Vehicles on AutoTrader

1. Ford F-150
2. Toyota RAV4
3. Honda CR-V
4. Dodge RAM 1500
5. Honda Civic
6. Nissan Rogue
7. Ford Escape
8. Toyota Corolla
9. Hyundai Elantra
10. GMC Sierra 1500

Pricing trends and market adjustment

The gap between aspiration and affordability isn’t only evident in search and sales data; it’s also reflected in pricing trends. Average used vehicle prices have declined over the past few months, although the beginning of 2025 told a different story.

I’ll explore this in more detail in a future column but, in short, consumers accelerated their purchases in the first half of the year because of tariff concerns. With pandemic-era price increases still fresh in consumers’ minds, buyers expected prices to rise significantly. To get ahead of that risk, many chose to act earlier, increasing demand and, in turn, pushing prices upward – particularly in the used-vehicle market. Historically, we always see a larger impact on used vehicle prices whenever there is a structural change in the new-car market.

The new-car market, however, is more nuanced, influenced by inventory availability and the potential impact of tariffs. Over all, aggregate prices were not significantly affected at the aggregate level, but the picture differs at the automaker level – perhaps another topic for a future column.

That acceleration slowed toward the end of summer as demand softened slightly in the last two quarters. Looking at the average used vehicle prices, we are now seeing declines driven largely by luxury vehicles, reflecting softer demand and increased supply. Compared to peak prices in November 2023, in December 2025 luxury vehicle prices have fallen by about 17 per cent, while mainstream brand prices have declined by about 10 per cent.

Income segmentation and the economy

I’ve been hearing and reading a lot about the forces behind these shifts in consumer behaviour, often described by economists as a K-shaped economy; one in which higher-income households are doing well while lower-income households are not. Our data supports this view.

Looking at used car purchases by prime consumers, those with higher incomes and stronger credit profiles, we see a shift toward mainstream brands. Meanwhile, some lower-income consumers are increasingly moving out of the market altogether because of affordability constraints. Subprime consumers are purchasing fewer vehicles, down roughly 5 per cent year-over-year, while purchases by prime consumers have increased.

Household savings data further reinforces this trend. According to Statistics Canada and several bank reports, higher-income households have accumulated significantly more savings since the start of the pandemic, while lower-income households are, in many cases, worse off than they were pre-pandemic.

During the early days of the pandemic, as we sought to understand the impact of rising savings, AutoTrader research confirmed that as Canadians saved more, vehicle sales increased as well - putting upward pressure on car prices over all.

Market outlook

The automotive market today is nuanced and shaped by evolving consumer behaviour. Cars are still selling but not all cars are selling well. Consumers are still buying but not all consumers can afford to. Prices are gradually coming down, but not to 2019 levels. If you’re waiting for a return to pre-pandemic pricing, don’t hold your breath.

Assuming no major economic disruptions or changes in our relationship with our southern neighbour, we don’t expect substantial shifts in the market in 2026 and prices may continue to normalize. For now, the market will continue to favour more affordable and practical vehicles, while shoppers keep dreaming about those performance and luxury cars.