Record Global Car Sales Projected for 2015 With Asia and North America to Lead the Way: Scotiabank

TORONTO, ON --(Marketwired - January 09, 2015) - Global auto sales remain a bright light in a sluggish growth environment and are set to advance an additional 4% in 2015, according to the Scotiabank Global Auto Report released today. China will continue to be the auto industry's growth leader in 2015; however, North America is also likely to set all-time highs.

"Purchases will be buoyed by strengthening labour markets, ongoing low short and long-term interest rates and monetary expansion, as the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank (ECB) take over from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England as the main liquidity providers," said Carlos Gomes, Senior Economist and Auto Industry Specialist at Scotiabank. "Financial market conditions remain supportive of further gains in sales and will likely improve once the volatility associated with the recent plunge in global oil prices begins to subside."

Other highlights from the report include:

--  Auto demand in China is expected to grow 7% in 2015 to nearly 19.5
    million units. Despite growing concerns about an economic slowdown in
    the most populous nation, demand for new automobiles continues to be
    driven by rising vehicle ownership in tier 2 and 3 cities, especially
    for Crossover Utility Vehicles (CUVs), which are advancing by 40% per
    annum.

--  Over the coming year, combined vehicle sales and production in Canada,
    Mexico and the United States are expected to surpass the 2000 peak, when
    sales totalled 19.8 million units and assemblies topped 17.6 million.
    Both Canada and Mexico set sales records in 2014, and are poised to
    exceed those totals in 2015, as exports from both countries benefit from
    robust U.S. demand.

Read the full Scotiabank Global Auto Report online at: http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,3112,00.html.

Scotiabank provides clients with in-depth research into the factors shaping the outlook for Canada and the global economy, including macroeconomic developments, currency and capital market trends, commodity and industry performance, as well as monetary, fiscal and public policy issues.

Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada's most international bank. Through our team of more than 86,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates offer a broad range of products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking to over 21 million customers. With assets of $806 billion (as at October 31, 2014), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto BNS and New York Exchanges BNS. Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using Marketwired. For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

For more information please contact:

Carlos Gomes
Scotiabank Economics
(416) 866-4735
carlos.gomes@scotiabank.com

Devinder Lamsar
Scotiabank Media Communications
(416) 933-1171
devinder.lamsar@scotiabank.com