Where are Canadian automotive buyers heading?
At a time when the Automotive industry is facing unprecedented change, the Canadian Vehicle Buyer Opinion Study (VBOS) will help you understand what buyers think, want, and intend to do next.
Available the week of August 24th, VBOS will dive deep and examine the granular “why” behind Canadian consumer behaviour and will offer unique and timely insights into many questions, including:
- What they think
- What they want
- What they intend to do next
The opportunity
Three forces have the potential to reshape the Canadian new-vehicle market:
- An accelerating but uneven shift to electrified powertrains
- The arrival of Chinese automotive brands now that the federal government has opened the door
- Real questions about how firmly buyers will hold to the brands they know as those choices multiply
Taken together, these forces create the conditions for market share to be won or lost quickly.
The Canadian Vehicle Buyer Opinion Study (VBOS) is the first syndicated Canadian buyer study built around this moment: a current, national, statistically grounded read on what buyers think, want, and intend to do next — and the clarity to act on it.
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Target Audience
Canadian adults 18+ who have purchased or leased a new vehicle within the last five years.
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Sample Size
2,007 respondents sourced from Canada’s largest and most trusted consumer panel Leger Opinion (LEO) with nationally representative coverage by province/region, age and gender.
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Psychographic Profile
Respondents are categorized according to their new vehicle purchase motivations including practicality, reliability, safety, technology/connectivity and environmental impact.
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Timing
Data collection: June 23 to July 10, 2026
Report available: Week of August 24th, 2026
How dealers & dealer groups can leverage VBOS insights
- Franchise Representation Strategy: Weigh the Chinese-brand decision on real demand and consideration — not hype — including how much influence established dealers have on consumer brand choice
- Inventory Alignment: Forecast stocking priorities with an understanding of consumer purchase timing and powertrain intentions over the next 3, 6, 12 and 24 months
- Marketing and Media Targeting: Focus spend in each province based on how consumers decide and the channels they actually use — from social and AI tools to journalists and dealers
- For Dealers Considering Adding a Chinese Brand Franchise:
- Sales Conversion: Match your sales process to how buyers decide, where they want to shop, how they prefer to test drive, and the specific objections you will face
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F&I Optimization: Understand whether buyers will shop on total price or monthly payment, what intended budgets are for the next vehicle, and how they intend to pay for it (loan, lease or cash)
How OEMs can leverage VBOS insights
- Product and Powertrain Planning: Align the portfolio and EV roadmap to where demand is heading
- Competitive Threat Assessment: Assess the size of the Chinese-brand challenge by brand
- Brand Positioning: Benchmark country-of-origin equity and sharpen messaging to reinforce or overcome consumer perceptions
- Conquest and Retention: Direct conquest investment toward the most likely switchers to maximize conversion
- Media and Channel Strategy: Match spend to the sources buyers actually use
How industry service providers can leverage VBOS insights
- Size and time the market: Use consumer purchase intent, timing, and powertrain preferences to scope demand by region (BC, Prairies, Ontario,
Québec and Atlantic) to target the right products and services
- Build products around how buyers pay: Financing mix (dealership arranged finance vs bank loans/LOC vs lease vs cash) and price-versus-payment thinking to
shape F&I and lending offers
- Price risk on the new market entrants: Use Chinese-brand consideration and the resale, service, and data-security concerns behind it, to inform residual and
credit models
- Meet buyers in the right channel: Understand how and where Canadian consumers research vehicle purchases, how they want to transact (online, showroom), and the tools and touchpoints that lead to conversion
How policymakers can leverage VBOS insights
- Trade and Market-Access Sentiment: Gauge public support for admitting new foreign brands, and how Canadians weigh it against jobs, human rights, free trade, and U.S. trade relations
- Data Privacy and Vehicle Safety: Track public concern over connected-vehicle data and security, and the weight buyers give to things like safety standards, crash ratings, and durability
- ZEV Transition and Climate Targets: Understand EV exposure among non ZEV owners, and measure intent across Hybrid, PHEV, and BEV to guide infrastructure and incentive programs
- Affordability and Regional Equity: Index purchase-price and monthly-payment expectations by region (BC, Prairies, Ontario, Québec and Atlantic), cross-referenced with income and demographics, to inform equitable transportation policy