There were 142,000 vehicles sold in the country last month, down significantly from 2024.
There is a catch, however, as last November was marked by a rush of EV sales before government incentives expired.
Toyota sales increased by 10.1% while Honda sales decreased by 26.1%.
Sales figures show that Canadians bought 8.6% fewer new vehicles in November 2025 than during the same month of 2024, but this drop can’t all be attributed to a slowing economy.
Indeed, while a downward trend has been observed for a while in the automotive industry and despite a similar reduction in new car sales in the United States (-7%), reality is not as bad as it seems.
While it is true that the November 2025 figure of 142,000 vehicles sold is lower than in 2024, the main reason for this is that November 2024 was an unusually good month for vehicle sales in Canada, in large part thanks to a rush on EVs caused by the looming end of governmental incentives.
Porsche Cayenne Electric Prototype | Photo: PorscheWith the federal government having announced its ZEV program was running out of money and the Quebec government preparing to significantly reduce the amount it was prepared to give buyers of a new EV starting on January 1st of this year, it is no surprise that many buyers turned up at dealerships in order to benefit from a reduction on electric vehicles.
November 2024 was therefore the first November since 2017 in which more than 150,000 vehicles were delivered.
When compared to other years in recent memory, such as 2018 and 2019, last month doesn’t seem so bad. Indeed, 144,000 and 145,000 sales were recorded in November of those years, respectively.
Considering the economic effects of the Canada-U.S. trade war, an uncertain economy, much less interest in EVs, and one fewer sales day than last year, 142,000 units delivered last month is actually surprisingly good.
When looking at the annual numbers, DesRosier managing Partner Andrew King says the forecast (accounting for November) of 1.87 million automotive sales for 2025 is respectable.
As a comparison, there was a total of 1.99 million new vehicles sold in Canada in 2018, and 1.92 million in 2019.
On a per-automaker level, things are much more variable, with some having experienced healthy growth and others facing significant losses.
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Toyota came out best among the 10 brands that still report their Canadian sales on a monthly basis, with a 10.1% increase over last November. Toyota also had the most sales of the reporting automakers, with 18,238 units sold. The Grand Highlander, Tacoma, and Prius are responsible for this success, with sales jumping 143.5%, 60.6%, and 38.1% respectively.
Premium brands Acura and Genesis also saw modest increases of 2.4% and 6% respectively, while their rivals Lexus and Volvo remained mostly stable, with an increase of 0.4% for the former and a decrease of 0.1% for the latter.
Honda fared worse, with a 26.1% decline, the largest reported. Sales of 8,354 vehicles included 48.9% fewer Civic and 16.2% fewer CR-V models than last year.
Annual sales figures for the Canadian market and by each automaker are expected to be announced in the first quarter of 2026, which should give us a better picture of the industry.
Source: Automotive News Canada
