Truck, SUV sales aid automakers in July

Higher truck and SUV sales in Canada helped automakersin July as carsales showed signs of slowness.

Ford Canada said it sold 29,778 vehicles for its best July on record,as overall car and truck sales were up 9.6 per cent year over year.

However, whileits car sales were down 1.6 per cent from July 2015, Fordsaid its overall truck sales were up 12.6 per centyear over year,with 23,996 trucks sold.

Ford said it soldmore than 13,000F-Series trucks in themonth, settinganother monthly sales record.

Honda Canada reported a four per cent sales drop last month to 16,869 units by Honda and Acura combined. The company said sales of its top-selling vehicle, the Civic, decreased almost 16 per cent year over year to5,365, while the HR-V wasdown almost 49 per cent.

Conversely, CR-V sales shot up almost 53 per cent to hit 5,012 vehicles, its all-time best month.

"July Civic sales could not match the exceptional results of last year. Sales of HR-V fell significantly below last summer's July launch, when we had months of pent-up demand for the new model," said Dave Gardner, senior vice-president of operations with Honda Canada Inc, in a release.

"Both of these results were expected and we anticipate a return to year-over-year increases in the coming months."

Toyota Canada said itsold 18,272 Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles in July, down 0.4 per centcompared to last year. While car sales dipped by almost 16 per cent, strong sales growth for the the RAV4 and Highlander models helped Toyota's truck sales rise by almost 13 per cent year over year.

GM Canada saidChevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers delivered 21,255 vehicles in July 2016, a dip of six per centversus 22,826 vehicles in July 2015.

"While July sales slowed slightly after a strong June, we continue to see growing strength in our brands and products," saidJohn Roth, vice-president ofsales, service andmarketing for GM Canada. "Our retail-focused plan is working, with retail sales up fourper cent for the year."

Fiat Chrysler said its Canadian sales were down by 14 per cent in July, with sales of24,669 vehicles. The company said the sales figures reflect changes made to its reporting methods,similar to changes made by Fiat Chrysler in the United States.

Porsche reported its best July Canadian sales for the company with 738 vehicles sold, up eight units from last July.

U.S. sales slow

The release of Canadian sales figures came a day after U.S. figures, which revealed that sales south of the border are showing signs of hitting a plateau following six consecutive years of growth.

Overall,U.S. sales rose less than one per cent in July from the same month last year. GM's U.S. sales were down two per cent, Ford was off by three per cent, Toyota fell one per cent, while Fiat Chrysler sales were flat. VW, which has been feeling the fallout over its emissions scandal, saw its U.S. sales retreat eight per cent.

Not all of the automakerssaw weakness in the U.S. Hyundai, Honda and Nissan all reported higher sales for July.