Auto sales climb 0.6% for first rise in 17 months

DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. says Canadian auto sales rose 0.6% in August for the first year-over-year climb in 17 months.

The automotive consultant says light vehicle sales totalled 182,040 in August, up from 180,942 a year earlier.

An 8.4% rise in light truck sales was enough to offset the 18.3% decline in passenger car sales for the month.

DesRosiers says that while the August sales were positive, the overall market is still down 4.1% so far this year and Canada could well see a second year of declines in new vehicle sales.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles saw the biggest jump in August with an estimated 27.5% sales increase compared to August 2018, putting it in third place in sales for the month.

Ford Motor Co., which had an 8.8% drop in sales from last year, kept its first place, while General Motors was second in sales after an estimated 3.4% sales decline from last year.