Canadian auto sales rose 11.2% in February, paced by strong numbers from General Motors, the country’s biggest automaker, according to Reuters.
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The news agency noted that January and February are traditionally the weakest months of the year in Canada so last month’s jump helped offset a 4.5% decline in January.
“It’s a good start to the year,” said Dennis DesRosiers, an independent industry analyst, told Reuters, adding: “But we unless we hit (higher) March to May, we still could be in trouble. We still haven’t changed our forecast, we think the market’s going to end up soft on the year.”
The report said sales at General Motors of Canada surged 21.6% to 32,370 vehicles in February. Oshawa, Ontario-based GM reportedly said car sales jumped 26.1% while light truck sales, which include minivans and sport utility vehicles, were up 17.5%.
Ford of Canada told Reuters overall sales were flat last month at 14,888 units – car sales rose 5.1% while truck sales reversed 1.5%.
DaimlerChrysler Canada reported an 24.6% increase in total sales to 15,839 as its car sales jumped 38.9% and truck sales rose 21.2%, the report said.
Toyota Canada told Reuters total sales fell 5.4% to 9,300 units in February – car sales edged up 0.5% to 6,945 vehicles while truck sales slumped 19.2% to 2,355.
