Canadian new car sales dip in August

OTTAWA, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Sales of new vehicles in Canada dipped 0.3 percent to 126,401 units in August, deflating gains made in July, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.

"On a year-over-year basis, sales in August were 6.6 percent lower than in August 2008," the agency said.

The decline was led mostly by passenger car sales, down 1 percent to 62,425 vehicles, the report said.

Sales of North American-built cars fell 9.3 percent, while the number of foreign-built cars sold rose by 11 percent, StatsCan said.

Truck sales have exceeded passenger car sales on a monthly basis since May, with a 0.4 percent increase in August, or 63,976 units sold.