Sales of new vehicles have risen by 8.2 per cent in January

Sales of new motor vehicles in Canada increased by 8.2 percent in January compared to the previous month, the fastest monthly increase since June 2005, when they had increased 8.9 percent. The increase in percentage is largely due to the results obtained in Quebec. In total, according to figures provided by Statistics Canada Monday, Canadian dealers sold 153,231 units in January.

In Quebec, 39,953 units were sold in January, 16.1 percent more than in December. In Ontario, the increase was 6.9 percent from December to January, for a total of 54,558 vehicles sold. New Brunswick's share grew by 6.0 percent, for a total of 3248 vehicles sold.

The growth recorded in January was almost entirely attributable to increased sales of private cars. In January, sales of these vehicles have increased by 16.2 per cent in December to reach 80,754 units across the country. This is the largest increase of one month to another private cars sales observed since February 1998.

Sales of new trucks (which include minivans, sport utility vehicles, the camionslegers and heavy vans and buses) vintage slightly from 0.5 percent in January to establish a new 72,476 vehicles sold .

Statistics Canada pointed out that provisional data for February suggest that some of the observed increases in January will be erased, mainly due to a decline in truck sales.