VEHICLE sales kicked into higher gear in Canada last year, with auto companies reporting the biggest annual growth in sales in more than 25 years.

Auto sales clocked in at 1.7 million, an 11.8 per cent boost from 2022, according to a report from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.

The increase was partly due to the unwinding of supply chain problems that made it difficult for consumers to find the cars and trucks they wanted from 2020 to 2022, during the Covid pandemic. Growth in the supply of available vehicles in the second half resulted in a rare year in which auto sales grew despite higher interest rates and a cloudy economic backdrop, the DesRosiers report said.

Following a strong showing in December, the Canadian auto market has now seen 14 consecutive months of year-over-year sales growth. Light trucks dominate – they were about 86 per cent of the market in 2023, a record.

The top-selling manufacturer for the year was General Motors (GM), with about 16 per cent market share. BLOOMBERG