A study of the social and economic impacts of New Car Dealers’ in B.C. shows the industry to be crucial to the economic fabric of the province generating a total of $9.4 billion in retail sales in 2010 and supporting 33,755 full time equivalent jobs throughout the province.
Annually, new car dealers in the province account for close to $2 billion ($1.8 billion in 2010) towards the total provincial gross domestic product (GDP).
Throughout B.C., new car dealers are directly employing close to 15,000 people, an average of 40 full-time and seven part-time individuals at each store.
“B.C.’s auto dealers are the engine of the local economy throughout the province,” says Blair Qualey, president and CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of BC (NCDA). “We are proud to have members in every corner of the province providing jobs and helping to shape communities. Over 70 per cent of all new car dealers being deeply involved in local associations and sports teams and as a group donating more than $13 million to B.C. charities”.
“The study results illustrate that the new car dealer industry is an important component of B.C.’s economy,” says Ed Mansfield, economics practice leader, MNP.
“The economic impacts created across the province by members of the NCDA of BC are of a similar magnitude to many of B.C.’s major industries, including ones based on agriculture, natural resources and the creative sector.”
The study, entitled Social and Economic Impacts of the Members of the New Car Dealers Association of British Columbia, was conducted by accounting firm MNP who set out to analyze the economic impacts and benefits produced by NCDA members in British Columbia. The analysis quantifies output, GDP, government tax revenues and employment as well as the New Car Dealers’ contribution to the social development of the province through charitable giving, community involvement and commitment to the environment.
A total of 156,656 vehicles were sold in B.C. in 2010 a 10.8 per cent increase over 2009, which had lost more than $1 billion in revenue from sales in 2008, and over $2 billion from 2007.
