The overall performance of the Canadian light vehicle sales market was reasonable in September, given the broader economic uncertainty.
That is according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants; in their latest update, they estimated sales came in at 163,000 units — up 3.7 per cent from the same month last year. This is with the caveats of one extra sales day this year and that September 2024 was a notably weak comparable.
“September (2025) was a month with lots happening in the ZEV space. In the U.S. the $7,500 tax credit ended, while the Canadian federal government paused the ZEV mandate for 2026 and announced a broader 60-day review of the policy,” said DAC in its update. They also noted that the Quebec government will not ban the sale of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) light vehicles in the province after 2035.
“Meanwhile the first boatload of counter-tariff dodging German-built Teslas arrived in Halifax. From a ZEV sales perspective, far less was happening — sales have remained well below the various mandates in Canadian jurisdictions — less like Norway, and more like a Norwegian Blue (Google it),” said DAC.
Sales in September were notably below the 172,000 units of September 2020, which was the official COVID-hit year. It was also below the 187,000 units of September 2017. Andrew King, Managing Partner of DAC, said the SAAR for September 2025 came in at 1.85 million, which is broadly in line with what DAC has observed since April (back when the tariff “madness” first hit).
“The waiting game for a resolution of the trade situation goes on — meanwhile the market struggles to maintain momentum in difficult times, as margins are squeezed and pricing pressures continue to build,” said King in a statement.
DAC included some of the highlights of market performance: year-to-date sales are up 4.5 per cent over the same period last year, reaching 1.47 million units sold. Luxury sales were mixed year-to-date. For example, Genesis increased 18.5 per cent and Lexus jumped 15.7 per cent in sales, though other brands were down. And Mazda saw sales rise 16.1 per cent, while Hyundai was up 15.3 per cent and Honda 12.5 per cent.
