New-vehicle sales in 2022 were the lowest since 2009, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc.
The firm says automakers sold 1.49 million vehicles this year, a 9.1-per-cent decline compared with 2021, and the lowest annual sales total since the Great Recession.
DesRosiers says light vehicle sales were up 5.5 per cent in December compared with last year.
The firm estimates 109,000 new light vehicles were sold in the month of December, compared with 103,000 a year earlier.
Monthly totals are only estimates because the vast majority of automakers report sales on a quarterly basis.
DesRosiers says sales trends have been uneven among auto manufacturers, with some seeing annual sales rise and others seeing them fall, as each has fared differently amid supply chain-related inventory issues.
DesRosiers says the outlook is unclear as rising inventory could be offset by a deteriorating economy.
Ford Motor Co., had the highest sales for the year, followed by General Motors Co., and Toyota Canada Inc., according to the Automotive News Research and Data Center in Detroit.
With 240,325 vehicles sold, Ford was the top-selling automotive brand in Canada for the 14th year and the F-Series pickup was the best-selling truck in the country for the 57th straight year.
Despite the total, Ford sales were off 1.3 per cent for the year compared with 2021.
General Motors sold 228,003 new vehicles, up 4.8 per cent.
On a quarterly basis, GM's sales rose 41.6 per cent when compared with the same period ago. However, 2021 sales were marred by the chip shortage and COVID-19 restrictions.
"Improving inventory levels, along with high customer demand for our product lineup, were key contributors to our success. GM Canada and our dealers had strong sales and market share momentum across our vehicle portfolio," Sandor Piszar, vice-president, sales, service and marketing for GM Canada, told Automotive News Canada in a email. "We look forward to building on that success in 2023 with growth opportunities for new internal combustion and electric vehicles across GM’s most popular segments."
Toyota sales were down 11 per cent to 200,205 for the year.
This report will be updated.
The Canadian Press and Greg Layson of Automotive News Canada contributed to this report.
