With squats, there is no doubt that you can break a sweat, and this has led some to actually use it as a form of cardio or at least they think so. You can get your heart rate pumping in general from lifting heavy weights as well and break a sweat. It can certainly help you to achieve greater results in your workouts. However, it is not a form of cardio. It should be combined with good cardio routines.
Generally, people tend to follow a pretty standard routine of a few reps and maybe 5 sets of reps, which is highly unusual. This will not actually get you up to a sufficient level of cardio, let alone extend through the time frame you would need it to. So unfortunately, despite what you may like to think, you will actually have to participate in aerobics, running, walking, or some other kind of actual cardio training in significant amounts to give yourself those kinds of workouts. This is not to say you shouldn’t use squats. You should use squats, just don’t use it in place of your cardio workouts among other things. You have to remember a greater balance. Of course, some don’t prefer squats in general.