New motor vehicle sales increased 1.2% in September following a slight decrease in August.

New motor vehicle sales increased 1.2% to 128,415 units in September following a slight decrease in August. Higher sales of North American-built passenger cars were responsible for most of the increase.

Sales of new motor vehicles have generally been rising since the beginning of 2009 after a sharp decline at the end of 2008. On a year-over-year basis, September’s sales were 7.5% lower than in September 2008.

Preliminary industry data indicate that the number of new motor vehicles sold increased by 3% in October.

Higher sales of North American built passenger cars

The number of new passenger cars sold in September increased 2.0% to 64,043 units. Sales of North American-built passenger cars increased 5.3%, partially offsetting the decrease in August. The number of overseas-built passenger cars sold decreased by 1.9%.

Sales of new trucks (which include minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses) rose for a third consecutive month, increasing 0.5% in September to 64,372 units. Truck sales have exceeded passenger car sales on a monthly basis since May.

British Columbia largest contributor to overall increase in September

The number of new motor vehicles sold increased in seven provinces in September. The largest contributor to the national increase was the region composed of British Columbia and the territories with a 3.9% rise in sales. Despite sales increases in eight out of the first nine months of 2009, sales in this region in September were 9.3% lower than in September 2008.

The Atlantic provinces show an overall increase of 5.1%. Prince Edward Island (+16.5%) had the largest increase among the provinces, while Newfoundland and Labrador (+10.6%) and New Brunswick (+8.7%) registered their largest monthly sales gains in almost two years. Sales in Nova Scotia decreased 1.8% after eight consecutive monthly increases.

In addition to a sales decline in Nova Scotia, sales were also down in Ontario (-0.8%) and Manitoba (-0.4%) in September.