Canadian vehicle sales down 10.3% in November

November new-vehicle sales in Canada dropped 10.3 per cent to 105,221, compared with 117,284 a year earlier.

But the sales statistic doesn't tell the whole story for the Canadian industry, because so many of the cars and parts produced in Canada are exported to the United States. And the drop in Canada was small, compared with a 47 per cent crash in Chrysler's U.S. sales and a 41 per cent drop at General Motors.

In Canada, industry leader General Motors reported a 23.5 per cent plunge, to 21,486 units from 28,071 in 2007. Car sales fell by a third, to 8,419, while the drop in light truck sales was more moderate, 13.1 per cent to 13,067 units.

Ford's Canadian sales rose 1.3 per cent to 16,109 vehicles, according to DesRosiers Automotive reports.

Chrysler Canada sales fell 15.6 per cent Chrysler Canada to 15,560, down from 18,445 in November 2007.

Honda Canada said its sales fell 33 per cent to 9,224 units.

Toyota Canada went against the industry trend, reporting a 1.9 per cent sales increase to 12,792 Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

During the first 11 months of 2008:

Toyota sales rose to 214,406 vehicles, beating its previous full-year record, 201,326 sold in 2007.GM sales fell 10.6 per cent to 337,300 vehicles.Chrysler sales slipped by 1.4 per cent to 210,702 units.With files from the Canadian Press