TORONTO (CP) -- Toyota Canada Inc. says it sold 10,269 vehicles under the Toyota and Lexus brands last month, marking a return to growth after the company's sales volume experienced a steep drop in December.
Toyota-branded models accounted for 9,681 of the company's total Canadian sales last month, up 0.3 percent from a year earlier and a new January record for the company.
The number of Toyota trucks sold increased to 3,806, also a record for January and up 7.8 percent from a year earlier.
The number of Lexus luxury cars fell by 35 percent to 588, a decline that the company suggested was due to customers waiting for new and updated models that will be in showrooms this spring.
The company, which experienced a 35 percent year-over-year in sales volume in December, acknowledged that consumers are faced with difficult economic times.
However, it said several of its models experienced double-digit growth over January 2008.
It sold 2,612 Toyota Corolla models, up 35.2 percent, 1,397 Canadian-built Toyota RAV4 models, up 37.1 percent and 1,121 Toyota Matrix models, up 63.6 percent. All three of the high-volume vehicles are built in Ontario.