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Midway Nissan dealership in Whitby.Yvonne Berg/The Globe and Mail

The beat goes on for auto makers in Canada – another month, another record sales performance.

The streak of year-over-year increases hit the two-year mark in March despite mixed results from the companies, with some reporting declines and others hitting record highs.

Sales rose 2 per cent to 160,274 from 157,228 in the first month of the crucial spring selling season, according to numbers released by the auto makers.

The U.S. market, which has also been chugging along in positive territory since 2013, paused last month with a slight decline.

U.S. analysts said the March figures appear to show that the days of strong growth have come to an end.

Sales hit a 17-million pace on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis, said Mark LaNeve, vice-president of U.S. marketing and sales for Ford Motor Co.

"It's been a terrific five-year run if you go back to 2009, so it is historic in many ways," Mr. LaNeve said on a conference call with analysts and reporters Wednesday. "You're not going to see the growth curves that we saw maybe earlier in the decade, so it's going to be really competitive."

Canadian sales rose overall despite declines by four of the top six companies in the sales rankings.

Only FCA Canada Inc. (formerly Chrysler Canada Inc.) and Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. reported sales last month that were above year-earlier levels. Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd., General Motors of Canada Ltd., Honda Canada Inc. and Toyota Canada Inc. all reported sales declines.

"It is not often the market sees these four players decline but still manages an overall gain," industry consulting firm DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. said in its monthly examination of the numbers provided by the auto makers.

Volkswagen Canada Inc. was the fastest-growing brand in the country last month, posting a 73-per-cent gain that was a record March and the second-best month in its history.

Sales soared 46 per cent for Porsche Cars Canada Ltd.

FCA Canada said its sales rose 2 per cent last month, which ranked first in March and puts the company in the lead ahead of Ford in the year-to-date sales rankings.

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Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 27/03/24 6:40pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
F-N
Ford Motor Company
+4.98%13.06
GM-N
General Motors Company
+1.34%44.59
TM-N
Toyota Motor Corp Ltd Ord ADR
-0.62%252.15

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