Hot times for new vehicle sales

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September proved to be a hot month for new vehicle sales, continuing a streak of year-over-year improvement.

DesRosiers Automotive Consultants reported that Canadian new sales numbers came in at 155,249 units, a 19 per cent jump from the same time in 2022.

The performance exceeded August’s numbers, which were up 18.3 per cent in 2023 over 2022.

Of course, the hype has to be taken with a grain of salt — September 2022’s numbers were so bad that it wouldn’t have been difficult to jump higher this year. In fact, last September was the worst since 2009 during the Great Recession.

But helping the progression was increased availability at dealers, noted Andrew King, DesRosiers’ managing partner.

“Improved vehicle availability is making a real impact on the market, allowing pent-up demand to be released and easily outweighing any down-drafts from high interest rates and a weak economic environment,” he said.

On top of that, the seasonally adjusted annual rate for September was 1.77 million units, the highest since January and a further positive sign of what’s ahead. Last year, sales finished below 1.5 million.

Year-to-date, DesRosiers noted, the market is up 10.1 per cent overall.