What a difference a year makes.

Last year at this time, the loonie was flying high against the American greenback. That was good for anyone travelling to the U.S., but it also had many Canadians bemoaning new car pricing in Canada.

They complained of price gouging and demanded that auto makers lower their prices to match U.S. pricing on a strict exchange basis - one Canadian dollar for one U.S. dollar.

When that didn't happen right away, frustrated buyers by the tens of thousands went south in search of bargains. In fact, more than 160,000 Canadians imported a car from the U.S. last year.

Canadian manufacturers, though reluctant to cut prices quickly to match currency fluctuations, finally did react. They had to. The pressure was tremendous.

Hammered by bad publicity and seeing so many consumers import vehicles from the United States, auto manufacturers either lowered new car prices or slapped on generous incentives designed to level the pricing playing field between Canada and the U.S.

But since peaking at about $1.10 to the U.S. greenback, the loonie has swooned; it is now trading at about $.81 US. That's a 26 per cent drop in one year.

New car prices have not gone up 26 per cent in Canada, but many analysts are predicting price increases very soon. Among other things, the threat of cross-border shopping no longer exists as a force, as a counterweight, in pricing. According to the Consumers Association of Canada, cross-border shopping has come to a screeching halt.

"We've already seen a sharp decrease in Canadians shopping for new car bargains in the U.S.", adds Paul Timoteo, president of the online pricing service www.carcostcanada.com. "Last year at this time, we were flooded with inquiries from Canadians looking for U.S. new car bargains. Not anymore."

Timoteo and others suggest that if the current trend continues, prices for new vehicles in Canada will surely rise to keep pace with the latest currency swings. The price changes may not happen overnight, but they will happen if the loonie remains in the low-$.80 range, he insists.

"Canadian new car buyers should be worried," says Timoteo, adding that "if new car prices went down when the Canadian dollar went up, with the Canadian dollar now down significantly, new car prices have nowhere to go but up. It's just a matter of time."

To illustrate, Timoteo points to a 2009 Toyota Camry LE. At $22,370 in the U.S. (including freight), it is no longer a bargain for Canadians heading south to shop. The opposite is true, in fact.

Canadians shopping for a Camry in the U.S. are facing a price premium when the exchange rate is factored in. That is, with the loonie trading at $.80, that US$22,370 Camry has a U.S. equivalent price of $27,962. In Canada, the same car lists for $24,870.

In other words, the Canadian Camry costs $3,000 less than the U.S. version on a currency exchange basis. That surely cannot last.

Remember, when the loonie was strong, Toyota Canada reduced the price of the Camry from $27,370 for the 2008 model to today's 2009 price of $24,870. What goes down can and will surely go up again.

At Autos.CTV.ca we wanted to find out just how the slumping loonie has affected new car pricing on a currency exchange basis. So using the latest top 10 list of best-selling cars in Canada, we compared Canadian and U.S. pricing.

For U.S. pricing we used the respected www.edmonds.com website for vehicles listed in the Buffalo area just south of Toronto. We included freight charges. For Canadian pricing, we used figures from www.carcostcanada.com, as well as figures from the manufacturers themselves and other sources. Again, we included freight charges.

In each instance, we attempted to include the equivalent features for both the Canadian and U.S. vehicles. This is difficult and feature content does vary between U.S. and Canadian models, but we did our best.

The analysis may not be perfect; there may be some minor differences between Canadian and U.S. models. But the overall conclusion is very clear: With the loonie trading at $.81, cars in Canada are selling at relatively bargain prices.

Perhaps that's why new car sales in Canada are actually up 1.4 per cent on the year.

CANADA'S TOP 10 BEST-SELLING CAR - LOONIE VERSUS GREENBACK

1. 2009 Toyota Corolla LE (four-door compact sedan) with equivalent option content.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $18,604.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $4,377.85

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $22,981.85

Canadian MSRP: $21,540.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $1,441.85

(Note: No available Canadian and U.S. incentives)

2. 2009 Honda Civic DX-A (four-door compact sedan) with equivalent option content.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $17,625.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $4,406.25

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $22,031.25

Canadian MSRP: $20,900.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $1,131.25

3. 2009 Mazda3 GX (four-door compact sedan) with air conditioning and other equivalent options.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $17,140.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $4,285.00

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $21,425.00

Canadian MSRP: $18,390.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $3,035.00

4. 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt LT (four-door compact sedan) with equivalent options.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $17,705.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $4,163.53

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $21,868.53

Canadian MSRP: $19,420.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $2,448.53

5. 2009 Toyota Yaris (base model, four-door subcompact sedan) with equivalent options.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $13,895.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $3,273.17

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $17,168.17

Canadian MSRP: $15,165.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $2,003.17

6. 2009 Toyota Matrix XR (four-door compact hatchback) with equivalent options.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $18,865.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $4,434.92

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $23,299.92

Canadian MSRP: $20,720.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $2,579.92

7. 2009 Hyundai Accent GLS (four-door subcompact sedan) with equivalent options.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $14,990.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $3,546.76

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $18,536.76

Canadian MSRP: $17,090.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $1,446.76

8. 2009 Pontiac G5 (base two-door compact coupe) with equivalent options.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $16,335.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $3,869.87

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $20,204.87

Canadian MSRP: $16,970.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $3,234.87

9. 2009 Volkswagen Jetta S (US)/Comfortline (Canada) (four-door compact sedan) with

equivalent options.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $17,640.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $4,164.21

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $21,804.21

Canadian MSRP: $23,310.00

Canadian pricing advantage: -$1,505.79

10. 2009 Ford Focus SE (four-door compact sedan) with equivalent options.

US MSPR (manufacturer's suggested retail price): $16,875.00

Exchange rate premium (with loonie at $.81 US): $3,987.38

Canadian dollar price equivalent: $20,862.38

Canadian MSRP: $17,699.00

Canadian pricing advantage: $3,163.38