New motor vehicle sales

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Related subjects

    [an error occurred while processing this directive]
April 2011 (Previous release)

The number of new motor vehicles sold declined 1.1% in April to 134,529 units. Higher sales in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia (including the territories) were more than offset by declines in the other provinces.

New motor vehicle sales down in April

Preliminary industry data indicate that the number of new motor vehicles sold in May decreased 6%.

Truck sales drive decline

Sales of trucks (which include minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses) decreased 3.0% in April, erasing gains reported in the previous month.

Passenger car sales increased 1.4%, a third consecutive monthly gain. Overseas-built passenger cars accounted for the advance, rising 5.4%. After three months of gains, sales of North American-built passenger cars fell 0.8%. Sales of North American built passenger cars have been on the rise since the middle of 2010.

North American-built passenger car sales on an upward trend

Alberta leads declines

In April, higher sales in Quebec (+0.6%), Ontario (+0.4%) and the region formed by British Columbia and the territories (+0.9%) were more than offset by declines in the other provinces.

The largest decline in units sold was in Alberta (-2.5%), following three straight months of increases.

The remaining provinces posted decreases that ranged from 5.9% in New Brunswick to 9.2% in Manitoba.

Available on CANSIM: table 079-0003.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2402.

The April 2011 issue of New Motor Vehicle Sales (63-007-X, free) will be available soon.

Data on new motor vehicle sales for May will be released on July 18.

For general 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 John De Luca (613-951-8719), Distributive Trades Division.