Canadian auto sales down in September

RICHMOND HILL, Ont. — Canadian auto sales have been steady in the first half of 2016. However, the last couple of months have seen a plateau in sales figures.

DesRosiers Automotive Consultants says sales of new cars and light trucks in Canada fell 0.5 per cent in September compared with a year ago. This marks the third consecutive month of declines.

Overall though, sales of new light vehicles were still up 3.2 per cent for the year-to-date compared with the same period in 2015.

DesRosiers reported sales of new cars and light trucks in September totalled 173,460 compared with 174,337 in the same month last year.

Car sales totalled 58,152 in September, down 7.6 per cent from 62,980 in the same month a year ago.

Light truck sales, however, totalled 115,278, up 3.5 per cent from 111,357 in September 2015.

The September figures bring the total number of new light vehicles sold in the first nine months of the year to 1,507,975, compared with 1,461,132 in same period last year.

“With slight sales declines for four of the last five months, a distinctive plateauing of the market has developed in the 1.95-million range and we expect the final year-end number to come in around that level,” DesRosiers said in a release.

When it comes to the Detroit 3, Ford and General Motors reported higher than expected vehicle sales, while Fiat Chrysler’s September sales figures plunged by 18 percent. FCA Canada reported sales of 19,639 units, compared with sales in September 2015 of 23,979 units.