Alberta’s new vehicle sellers had a good month in September. The number of cars and trucks sold increased by 4.5 per cent compared to August. The value of the vehicles sold also increased, rising by 4.8 per cent or $44.6 million.

For the first time since February, year-over-year sales were in positive territory. Units sold were up by 3.5 per cent compared to September 2019 while the value of sales was up by 4.1 per cent ($38.3 million).

The improvement suggests heightened confidence in the economy on the part of buyers going into the fall. This was, however, before rising cases and talk of another lockdown started forming dark clouds over the economy.

And, while monthly sales had recovered from the pandemic, the hole left by the downturn remained large. The number of units sold over the first nine months of 2020 was down by 23.0 per cent compared to the year before and the value of sales was off by 19.5 per cent ($1.6 billion).

Vehicle sales also improved nationally in September. Year-over-year, the number of units sold was up by 2.4 per cent. In terms of the hole left by the pandemic, national sales were down by 25.0 per cent ($14.8 billion) on a year-over-year basis.