Canada auto sales have best month in a year in Oct

DETROIT, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Canadian auto sales had their best performance in the past year in October, just narrowly missing positive territory, according to industry figures released on Tuesday. Overall Canadian sales were down 1 percent from a year earlier at 121,500 units, according to data from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. General Motors Co was the top auto seller in Canada in October, followed closely by Toyotap and Ford . "I cannot recall ever seeing a sales race for the top position this close in any particular month in my entire 40 year career of studying this industry," said Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. GM sold 18,959 vehicles in Canada in October. But that was down 33.2 percent from a year earlier. GM's car sales fell 44.6 percent to 7,056, while truck sales fell 23.9 percent to 11,903. Toyota Canada Inc's sales rose 18.7 percent from a year ago to 18,813 vehicles, its best October on record. The automaker's Toyota division recorded an 19.4 percent sales gain, while the luxury Lexus brand rose 11.9 percent. Sales at Ford Canada were up for the fifth consecutive month in October, rising 20.1 percent over a year earlier to 18,201 vehicles. Car sales rose 8.4 percent, while trucks were up 23.6 percent. Ford Canada said it extended its "Recycle Your Ride" vehicle scrappage incentive program until Jan. 4. The program started in September and was originally scheduled to run for 60 days. Ford said it scrapped 1,419 Canadian "clunkers" under the program, which gives consumers up to $3,000 towards the purchase of a new Ford if they turn in a vehicle 15 years or older. Several other auto companies have similar plans in Canada, adding to the federal government's "Retire Your Ride" initiative, which gives eligible consumers $300 for a trade in. Chrysler said total sales dropped 9.3 percent year-on-year to 14,263 vehicles. Its passenger car sales fell 7.9 percent to 3,003. Truck sales fell 9.7 percent to 11,260. Sales at Honda Canada Inc were flat compared with a year ago at 11,303 vehicles. Sales in the Honda division fell 10 percent, while the Acura division was up 80 percent year-on- year. (Reporting by John McCrank; editing by Andre Grenon) Keywords: AUTOS CANADA/SALES ([e-mail] [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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