DesRosiers Automotive Consultants announced on Tuesday that car sales in Canada increased by 3.7% in March compared to the same month last year, marking gains for the fifth consecutive month.

Overall, there were about 146,000 light vehicle sales for this month among automakers that reported data, according to DesRosiers.

Andrew King, the company's managing partner, also noted in a report that while the streak of rising sales was encouraging, there is still a "noticeable shortage" since the gains are relatively small and the increase in March is less than those observed in January and February.

DesRosiers also explained that the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for March reached 1.59 million, which is much lower than the first two months of the year, when this metric hovered around 1.7 million.

In the first quarter, DesRosiers estimates total sales at 348,000 vehicles, an increase of 5.2% over last year. General Motors will also lead sales with 61,093 vehicles, an increase of 28.1% compared to sales in the same month of the previous year.

DesRosiers indicated that sales volumes among automakers see severe fluctuations with fluctuating inventory levels.

Kia's sales jumped 38% in the first quarter, while Honda's sales declined by 26%.