Vehicle sales 'flatlining'

BMW LONDON 

Automakers are reporting a bumpy September for vehicle sales in Canada as overall volumes were down 0.4 per cent year over year.

"The Canadian market has been flatlining all year and September was no different," Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, said on Monday.

Chrysler Canada said it sold 19,255 vehicles in the country last month, up 19 per cent year-over-year, marking its best performance for the month since 2001.

"July 2011 marked our best July ever and now we have our strongest September in 10 years. What can I say, business is good," Chrysler Canada chief executive Reid Bigland said.

"Chrysler is again the fastest growing auto maker in Canada for the second consecutive year."

But Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. kept its leadership position despite a three per cent dip in sales during the month to 25,656 units. General Motors of Canada Ltd. fell to third with September sales of 16,799, down six per cent year over year.

Ford said it was still its second-best sales total for the month since September 1978 after a strong year last year.

"We were up against an unusually strong September last year. The fact that our car sales continue to improve shows that our investment in smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles is paying off," said David Mondragon, Ford of Canada's chief executive.

"Volkswagen continues to join Chrysler as one of the best-performing brands in the market with sales up 41.3 per cent in September, which puts them up 20.9 per cent year to date," DesRosiers said.

Honda and Toyota continued their tumble, falling 19 per cent and 5.3 per cent, respectively, while Hyundai managed to sell one more vehicle than Honda during the month at 11,110 units, up 6.8 per cent compared with a year ago.

Sales of Honda's popular Civic fell 21 per cent year over year.

Source: Montreal Gazette