Year starts strong for new vehicle sales

New vehicle sales for January 2024 were the highest they’ve been in the last couple of years, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.

Year over year, the gain was about 15 per cent as monthly sales went from about 98,000 in 2023 to almost 113,000 this year.

In fact, Andrew King, managing partner at DesRosiers noted, this year’s sales level is even higher than the same month in 2019. He credited the pent-up demand effect as helping the surge.

“While inventories remain tight in a couple of critical segments, the market is moving back into a more normal environment in which demand (rather than just supply) plays a more central role in determining sales volumes,” he said.

With that, the seasonally adjusted annual rate for vehicle sales for January came in at 2.06 million — that’s the first time the two-million mark has been crossed since February 2020.

DesRosiers’ announcement did note that the first signs of weakness do seem to be appearing in some markets. However, the group is taking the win and celebrating the achievement.