February was an important month for the Canadian new light vehicle sales market, which saw Ontario lead the way thanks to an estimated 35.3% increase in sales compared to the same period last year, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
The province added nearly 15,000 units to the overall volume. Newfoundland, Québec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick also enjoyed sales increases of over 20% in February, while British Columbia was slightly behind the Eastern gang with a 17.1% sales increase.
But it was the Prairie region that revealed the most notable difference in sales gains from the other Canadian provinces, with Manitoba experiencing an under 20% sales increase of 12.2%, Saskatchewan a 8.6% increase, and Alberta seeing only a 5.9% increase.
However, “despite some comparatively lagging performances in the Prairie provinces, February was still an exceptional month for the auto market, especially so in Ontario and Québec where sales were well ahead of February 2019,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC, in a statement.
DAC estimated that overall new light vehicle sales among reporting OEMs came in at around 129,000 units for February 2024 — up 24.4% from the same month in 2023.
