Of all types of vehicles, sales of overseas-built passenger cars, which account for about 36 percent of new passenger car sales, were down 7.1 percent in July, the report said. Overseas-built passenger cars had been posting strong monthly gains since 2007, StatsCan said.

Sales of North American-built passenger cars were relatively unchanged and overall passenger car sales decreased 2.9 percent to 77,122 units in July.

Sales of new minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses rose 1.8 percent to 64,696 units in July, the report said.

The agency also said preliminary data for August was suggesting a similar decline in new motor vehicle sales as in July.