In January, 114,415 new motor vehicles were sold in Canada, a decrease of 5.6% from January 2025. In dollar terms, sales decreased 6.1% in January 2026 compared with one year earlier. Over the same period, sales of new passenger cars fell by 18.2%, while sales of new trucks saw a smaller decline of 3.9%, according to a Statistics Canada report released on Monday.
There were 8,826 new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) sold in January, a decrease of 39.3% from one year earlier. New ZEVs comprised 7.7% of total new motor vehicles sold, compared with 12.0% in January 2025, added the federal agency.
In 2025, 1,958,582 new motor vehicles were sold in Canada, representing an increase of 2.1% compared with 2024. Sales in dollar terms rose by roughly 1.0% from 2024 levels, an increase of approximately $1.1 billion, it said.
“Sales of new passenger cars continued to decline in 2025, falling by 5.2% (-12,927 units) relative to 2024. Consumers continued to shift toward light trucks, with unit sales rising 3.7% in 2025 compared with the previous year. Bus sales also increased, up 24.5% from 2024 levels,” explained Statistics Canada.
“One of the most notable developments in 2025 was the substantial decline in medium and heavy truck sales. A total of 30,813 units were sold, a decrease of 23.1% from 2024. This marks the lowest level of medium and heavy truck sales observed since 2010.”
In 2025, 169,972 ZEVs were sold in Canada, a decline of 35.7% from 2024. This sharp decrease was likely influenced by changes to federal and provincial ZEV incentive programs. In particular, the suspension of the federal Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program in January 2025, along with the reduction of rebates offered under Quebec’s Roulez Vert program, likely contributed to lower ZEVs demand in 2025, said Statistics Canada.
In 2025, new ZEV accounted for approximately 8.7% of all new motor vehicles sold in Canada. Again, this represents a significant decline from 2024, in which ZEV accounted for 13.8% of new motor vehicle sales, it added.
More from Retail Insider:
