CARMEL, Ind. -

Earlier this week, KAR Auction Services chief executive officer Jim Hallett projected how much longer Canada’s wholesale market will remain sluggish.

After sharing his upbeat assessment of the U.S. future, Hallett said during the company’s quarterly conference call with investment analysts that, “in Canada, it’s a little bit of different story.

“The Canadian market is lagging the U.S. market,” Hallett continued. “As you know, ADESA has a dominant share of business. Canada has not yet hit rock bottom. The recovery in Canada is likely to take at least a year longer than it has in the U.S.”

Prices in the Canadian wholesale market were sluggish last month as the monthly used-car value index from ADESA Canada declined.

Contained within the ADESA Canada Used Vehicle Price Index report's data — powered by ALG — officials found that the index fell “substantially” on a month-over-month basis when seasonally adjusted, noting that the average sequential decline in wholesale prices was roughly 1.3 percent.

Even though prices might be softer, Hallett is confident about the company’s dealer consignment initiatives to boost volume, a similar strategy KAR and ADESA implemented in the U.S.

“Again in Canada, ADESA has done a very good job of growing its dealer consignment business. We’re hopeful that the dealer consignment business in Canada will help offset the declines that we’re going to experience on the commercial side of the business,” Hallett said.