Canada - Automotive Sales volume, 2024

Flash report, April 2024

May 7, 2024

*There are cases where recently released data and detailed information in the database do not match up for reasons including different information sources, and discrepancies between preliminary reports and confirmed data.

Canadian auto sales up 14.0% in April
On May 2, Des Rosiers Automotive Consultants reported that April automotive sales in Canada came in at an estimated 164,000 units, an increase of 14.0% from a year ago when sales were affected by availability.
April’s SAAR did show some improvement from April 2023 (1.48 million) but was still somewhat tepid at 1.68 million, and though basically in line with the previous month of March, remained less than the levels above 2 million seen in January and February of this year.
While the market has now seen 18 straight months of year-over-year gains, “the momentum appears to be dissipating and sales pulling back from the torrid pace seen at the start of the year”, according to DAC.
On April 9, Scotiabank maintained its previous March forecast of 1.74 million full-year sales in Canada for 2024 and 1.78 million for 2025.

Flash report, March 2024

Apr 4, 2024

*There are cases where recently released data and detailed information in the database do not match up for reasons including different information sources, and discrepancies between preliminary reports and confirmed data.

Canadian auto sales up 9.2% in March, up 15.3% for Q1 2024
On April 3, Des Rosiers Automotive Consultants reported that March automotive sales in Canada came in at an estimated 159,000 units, an increase of 9.2% from a year ago, and while strong in itself, follows February’s 24.4% increase in sales over the previous year.
March’s SAAR of 1.74 million units ranks as the lowest seen over the past 6 months.
For the first quarter of 2024, light vehicle sales in Canada increased 15.3%, to 401,000 units, compared to the first quarter of 2023 when 348,000 units were sold.
In the first quarter, General Motors led the market with over 63,000 units, while Subaru had the highest increase in percentage terms, rising 85.8% over the first quarter of 2023, and Honda with a 70.3% sales increase to over 11,000 units.
Scotiabank raised its Canadian outlook as of February 8, forecasting full-year Canadian sales will be 1.74 million units in 2024 and 1.78 million in 2025, respectively.

Flash report, February 2024

Mar 5, 2024

*There are cases where recently released data and detailed information in the database do not match up for reasons including different information sources, and discrepancies between preliminary reports and confirmed data.

Canadian auto sales up a remarkable 24.4% in February
On March 4, Des Rosiers Automotive Consultants reported February automotive sales in Canada came in at an estimated 129,000 units, easily the strongest February of all time, showing a 24.4% increase over February 2023.
Supported by the deep well of pent-up demand from the “lost sales” of the past 4 years, the SAAR for the month hit 2.11 million units, the highest seen since January 2018.
The market has now achieved 16 consecutive months of year over year growth, remarkable in a time of higher interest rates and given that Canada has been in the midst of a per capita recession throughout the past year.
February 2024 had 29 days in it, as did February 2020, which also had robust sales of 125,000 units just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On February 8, Scotiabank maintained its previous forecast for Canada at 1.71 million units for the full year 2024 and revised its 2025 forecast downward from 1.785 million units to 1.77 million units.

Flash report, January 2024

Feb 5, 2024

*There are cases where recently released data and detailed information in the database do not match up for reasons including different information sources, and discrepancies between preliminary reports and confirmed data.

Canadian auto sales jump 14.9% in January
On February 2, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants announced that the Canadian automotive market from reporting manufacturers jumped from January 2023’s 98,259 units up to an estimated 112,862 units, a gain of 14.9%.
The SAAR for January came in at 2.06 million – crossing over the two million mark for the first time since February 2020.
“Notably, January sales levels were above the same month from 2019, as pent-up demand continued to overcome high interest rates and economic concerns,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC. “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.”
As of January 17, Scotiabank expected 1.71 million annual auto sales in 2024 and 1.785 million annual auto sales in 2025.

Canada - Sales of new vehicles by type

Source: DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, MarkLines Data Center