New car sales in Canada continue to falter

Light vehicle sales were down 7.2 % in June 2019 compared to last June, according to the latest data from auto industry analysts DesRosiers Automotive Consulting.

Some 200,156 units were sold last June. This year, Canadians took home 185,741 new light vehicles – 73.2 % of them light trucks, and 26.8% passenger cars.

DesRosiers is reporting that June sales of passenger cars were down 21.3% compared to June 2018. Light truck sales in the same period were down 1%.

Passenger car sales decreased 15.1% in the first half of the year, compared to Jan-June 2018. The only increases were seen by Genesis, Volvo, and Porsche.

Although they recorded decreases, sales for Ford, General Motors, and FCA were down 4.5% overall with the three brands jointly performing better than the rest of the manufacturers in Canada, according to DesRosiers.

Light trucks continued to outperform the passenger car market.

Global Automakers of Canada president David Adams said he remains optimistic about sales for the full year.

“Canadian auto sales continue to be fairly robust amidst pretty stable and positive consumer confidence ratings,” Adams said in a statement. “Looking at the glass half full, if sales for the remainder of 2019 track along current levels, we will still have one of the better sales years ever in Canada.”

www.desrosiers.ca