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New motor vehicle sales
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Sales of new motor vehicles fell 2.2% to 115,187 units in February. The decline was entirely a result of falling truck sales.
Monthly sales have averaged around 115,000 units since December 2008, whereas the average over the previous three years was almost 140,000 units.
Preliminary data obtained from the industry indicate that the number of new motor vehicles sold rose about 6% in March.
Truck sales drive decline
Sales of new trucks (which include minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses) were down 5.0% to 54,834 units in February. This decline did not offset the increase in truck sales in January.
Sales of passenger cars rose 0.4% to 60,353 units. There was a 6.1% gain in sales of overseas-built passenger cars, their largest increase since March 2008. Offsetting this increase was a 3.5% sales decline for North American-built passenger cars.
Sales down in seven provinces
The number of new motor vehicles sold declined in seven provinces in February. The main contributors to the decline at the national level were declines in Alberta (-12.5%) and British Columbia (-11.6%).
Note to readers
Seasonally adjusted estimates of new motor vehicle sales have been revised for 2005 to 2008. The annual sum of seasonally adjusted figures corresponds to the annual sum of unadjusted estimates.
The unadjusted estimates of new motor vehicle sales have been revised back to January 2007.
Sales in Ontario increased for the second consecutive month. The other provinces to register higher sales were Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Available on CANSIM: table 079-0003.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2402.
The February 2009 issue of New Motor Vehicle Sales (63-007-XWE, free) will be available soon.
Data on new motor vehicle sales for March will be released on May 13.
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.
Table 1
| February 2008 | January 2009r | February 2009p | February 2008 to February 2009 | January to February 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| number of vehicles | % change | ||||
| New motor vehicles | 151,359 | 117,835 | 115,187 | -23.9 | -2.2 |
| Passenger cars | 81,899 | 60,092 | 60,353 | -26.3 | 0.4 |
| North American1 | 52,472 | 35,527 | 34,291 | -34.6 | -3.5 |
| Overseas | 29,427 | 24,565 | 26,062 | -11.4 | 6.1 |
| Trucks, vans and buses | 69,460 | 57,743 | 54,834 | -21.1 | -5.0 |
| New motor vehicles | |||||
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 3,327 | 2,140 | 2,063 | -38.0 | -3.6 |
| Prince Edward Island | 494 | 432 | 371 | -24.9 | -14.1 |
| Nova Scotia | 4,761 | 3,484 | 3,585 | -24.7 | 2.9 |
| New Brunswick | 3,522 | 2,789 | 2,541 | -27.9 | -8.9 |
| Quebec | 41,313 | 30,040 | 31,417 | -24.0 | 4.6 |
| Ontario | 51,483 | 41,867 | 42,391 | -17.7 | 1.3 |
| Manitoba | 4,268 | 3,655 | 3,357 | -21.3 | -8.2 |
| Saskatchewan | 4,351 | 3,898 | 3,504 | -19.5 | -10.1 |
| Alberta | 21,390 | 16,824 | 14,727 | -31.2 | -12.5 |
| British Columbia2 | 16,450 | 12,706 | 11,231 | -31.7 | -11.6 |
| February 2008 | January 2009r | February 2009p | February 2008 to February 2009 | ||
| Unadjusted | |||||
| number of vehicles | % change | ||||
| New motor vehicles | 113,877 | 78,817 | 82,039 | -28.0 | |
| Passenger cars | 58,210 | 35,743 | 40,786 | -29.9 | |
| North American1 | 37,369 | 21,581 | 23,129 | -38.1 | |
| Overseas | 20,841 | 14,162 | 17,657 | -15.3 | |
| Trucks, vans and buses | 55,667 | 43,074 | 41,253 | -25.9 | |
| New motor vehicles | |||||
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,013 | 1,125 | 1,188 | -41.0 | |
| Prince Edward Island | 355 | 250 | 239 | -32.7 | |
| Nova Scotia | 3,516 | 2,148 | 2,445 | -30.5 | |
| New Brunswick | 2,527 | 1,779 | 1,717 | -32.1 | |
| Quebec | 29,755 | 17,636 | 21,501 | -27.7 | |
| Ontario | 38,614 | 27,732 | 30,303 | -21.5 | |
| Manitoba | 3,087 | 2,430 | 2,287 | -25.9 | |
| Saskatchewan | 3,207 | 2,736 | 2,386 | -25.6 | |
| Alberta | 17,182 | 13,151 | 11,102 | -35.4 | |
| British Columbia2 | 13,621 | 9,830 | 8,871 | -34.9 | |
