New light vehicle sales showed a notable increase across all provinces in October, based on data reviewed by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants from reporting manufacturers.
The majority of provinces experienced a sales growth that surpassed 20% when compared to the same period a year earlier. In percentage terms, DAC said Saskatchewan led the way with an estimated sales increase of 26.3% for the month. The rest of the Prairie region also enjoyed success, with Alberta up 23.8% and Manitoba up 23.0%.
“With remarkable growth in October capping off a 12-month streak of year-over-year sales increases, the automotive market also saw that success more evenly spread across the provinces as inventory shortages continue to gradually ameliorate,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC, in a statement.
British Columbia outperformed the national average thanks to a 23.5% increase. And Ontario, which came in slightly below the national average, experienced a sales boost of 17.0% compared to the previous month. Still, DAC said the province maintained the second largest increase so far in 2023 (up 12.3%), and was only outperformed by Alberta (up 12.6% compared to the same period in 2022).
Overall, total new light vehicle sales among reporting OEMs managed to reach an estimated 145,957 units sold for October, an increase of 20.0%. “For the year thus far, the market saw an increase of 11.1% compared to the same time last year,” said DAC.
