Quebec’s new-vehicle market softened in October, posting a 7.9-per-cent decline from the unusually high, incentive-driven results of October 2024. The province’s year-to-date total now sits 0.5 per cent below the same period last year, marking a shift for a market that typically anchors national performance.
The decline comes as last year’s rush to capture outsized EV incentives continues to distort year-over-year comparisons. That late-2024 surge also contributed to the province’s muted results through the first three quarters of 2025.
Quebec wasn’t alone. Dealers in the Atlantic provinces recorded single-digit declines across the board after outperforming the market for much of the year. Alberta and Manitoba also saw sales fall in October, contributing to a patchwork of provincial results. Andrew King, managing partner at DAC, said sales volatility remains a defining feature of the current landscape.
“Provincial level sales performances can vary significantly depending on market conditions, but the segment level is where the market is most vulnerable to changing market dynamics and where market disruptions can be felt most keenly,” he said in a statement. “Compact car sales, as one example, saw a significant drop in October despite seeing strong growth throughout much of the year.”
King added that while the market is in a turbulent period, shaped by shifting ZEV policies, trade uncertainty, economic softness, pricing pressures and surprising employment growth — October’s overall showing was still respectable. “October itself was actually a solid sales month, just one that ran up against a difficult comparable.”
Nationally, 159,000 new light vehicles were sold in October, down 1.8 per cent from the 162,000 units posted a year earlier. Year-to-date, sales reached 1.63 million units, up 3.9 per cent from the same point in 2024.
