New vehicle sales hits one year of growth

It’s now been 12 straight months of year-over-year growth for new vehicle sales in Canada.

According to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, the last time that proclamation could be made was in November 2015, which then saw 32 straight months of year-over-year increases.

October sales came in at just under 146,000 units, up 20 per cent from 2022.

“The market has been on a tear the last 3 months with gains close to 20 per cent each month,” said Andrew King, the consultancy’s managing partner. “Clearly pent-up demand and improved vehicle availability are overcoming the headwinds caused by high interest rates and stagnant GDP performance.”

The seasonally adjusted annual rate for the month came in at 1.79 million – the strongest seen since January.

Of course, it must be noted that the comparable is weak as October 2022 was the worst October since 2008, of the recession-era. Furthermore, October 2019 saw sales of close to 160,000 units, showing there is still much room to grow.