New motor vehicle sales

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Sales of new motor vehicles fell 14.8% in December to 109,831 units. This was the largest monthly decline and lowest sales level since January 1998, when an ice storm crippled parts of the country.

Chart 1

After sharp declines in November and December, preliminary industry data indicate that the number of new motor vehicles sold rose by about 6% in January.

Passenger car and truck sales both drop in December

Sales of new trucks (which include minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses) fell 20.4% to 50,997 units. This was the largest decrease for this vehicle type since January 1998.

Sales of passenger cars declined 9.2% to 58,834 units in December. This decline reflects lower sales of North American built passenger cars, which fell 14.8%. This was the largest decline by passenger cars of this origin since January 2007. Sales of overseas-built passenger cars were flat.

Sales down in all provinces

New motor vehicle sales were down in all provinces in December. The largest drops were in Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Ontario, with sales declines of over 15% each.

Available on CANSIM: table 079-0003.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2402.

The December 2008 issue of New Motor Vehicle Sales (63-007-XWE, free) will be available soon.

Data on new motor vehicle sales for January will be released on March 20.

For more information, or to order data, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-877-421-3067; 613-951-3549; retailinfo@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Mark Switzer (613-951-7137), Distributive Trades Division.