According to Automotive News, the latest data from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC) shows that new car sales in Canada fell by 8.2% year-over-year in February. The decline was mainly driven by a sharp drop in pure electric vehicle sales and a high base effect from the same period last year.
Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC, stated that Canada's estimated sales for last month were 122,000 units. While the 8.2% decline appears significant, he emphasized that given last year's high base, the market remained relatively stable. He also pointed out that most automakers do not release monthly sales figures in Canada but instead report quarterly.
According to research by the Automotive News Data Center, Toyota saw the steepest decline in February, with sales plunging 24.7% to 11,660 units. It was followed by Kia (-10.9%), Honda (-6.4%), Volvo (-4.3%), and Subaru (-1.8%). Meanwhile, Hyundai recorded a 6.5% year-over-year increase with 9,200 units sold, and Mazda's strong performance with the CX-50 (988 units, nearly doubling year-over-year) helped boost overall sales by 11.9% to 4,559 units.
Foreign media reports described February 2025 as the "darkest hour" for Canada's EV market, standing in stark contrast to the relative stability of the overall market. Following the abrupt termination of the federal Zero-Emission Vehicles incentive program in January and the suspension of Quebec's subsidy program, Canadian EV buyers found themselves without any policy support for the first time in February. According to DAC, "a significant number of pure electric models experienced a cliff-like drop in sales, leading to a market-wide collapse in the segment."
Specifically, Hyundai's IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 saw sales plummet by 37.9% and 81.4% year-over-year, respectively. Toyota's bZ4X sales fell sharply from 399 units to 107, while Kia's EV5 suffered an even more dramatic drop from 457 units to just 65.
Despite Canada's seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate (SAAR) reaching 2 million vehicles last month, keeping the retail market at a "healthy" level, DAC warned that tariffs could disrupt this momentum. The U.S. government's planned 25% tariff on Canadian automobiles, the steel and aluminum tariffs set for March 12, and Canada's retaliatory tariffs could all have significant impacts on the market.
