[ferro-alloys.com]Canadian auto sales continued to face headwinds in February, falling 3.7% on a year-on-year basis, Global Automakers of Canada, a trade organization, said Monday.

Sales totaled 120,891 units in the shortest month of the year, compared with 125,530 units in February 2018. Through the first two months of 2019, total sales were off 5.4%.

GAC president David Adams said the latest results were not unexpected.

"Both January and February last year were very strong months, so it was always going to be a tough act to follow," he said. "Also, when you factor in the significant snow and weather events that have occurred over the month of February across the country, the results are actually pretty good."

FAC bumped Ford Motor Co. from the top sales spot in Canada in February, although Ford's F-Series pickup truck was again the best-selling truck in the country.

The Honda Civic ranked as Canada's best-selling vehicle and best-selling passenger car, respectively.

But trucks continued to increase their market share in February, accounting for a record 75.1% of all vehicle sales. Truck sales rose 1.2% year on year while passenger car sales fell 16%.

Among the various automakers, Hyundai sold 7,418 vehicles in February, a 15.8% year-on-year increase, while Kia sold 4,228 units, or a 10.5% rise.

Honda's total sales totaled 11,944 units, a 1.3% year-on-year increase.

Sales of Canadian-built Toyota passenger cars slumped 27.6%, although purchases of Canadian-built light trucks rose 34.6%

Volkswagen passenger cars recorded a 9.8% decrease while sales of Subaru and Volvo light trucks decreased 9.2% and 4.8%, respectively.

Nissan sold 22.5% fewer passenger cars in Canada in February.

Mitsubishi, meanwhile, sold 49.2% fewer passenger cars but 18.9% more light trucks in February.

(S&P Global Platts)

• [Editor:王可]