(Toronto) The new motor vehicle market remained buoyant in September, with sales jumping 19% last month on an annual basis, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants said Wednesday.

However, the specialist firm stressed that the sales figures had benefited from a low comparison with last September’s data, which had been the weakest since 2009.

The improved availability of new vehicles has had a real impact on the market, noted Andrew King of DesRosiers, by alleviating pent-up demand and offsetting pressures from high interest rates and a slowing economy.

Since the start of the year, the auto market has gained 10.1% overall, the report said.

The DesRosiers report shows that General Motors led the market with a 14.6% sales increase, recording a total of more than 197,000 vehicles sold so far this year.

The luxury market also saw significant increases in sales, particularly for the Lexus, Infiniti and Audi brands.