DURHAM -- General Motors is no longer king of the road in Canada.
The automaker, which has been the number-one seller in the country for years, dropped to third spot in February sales figures, according to a report from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc.
In February, GM trailed Chrysler and Ford in the Canadian sales ranks.
"I can't document month-to-month sales for Canada but I do have annual data going back into the 1940s and 1949 was the last time, on an annual basis, that GM was outsold by another vehicle company," auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers said in an e-mail.
In February 2009, GM's monthly sales slid 56.7 per cent compared to the same month last year.
"There may have been an individual month where this happened during the early 1950s but I doubt it, so with both Chrysler and Ford outselling GM in February, it will be the first month since sometime in late 1949 ... that GM has been outsold by another vehicle company in Canada," Mr. DesRosiers said. "By my count that adds up to about 712 consecutive months."
GM was not the only automaker to struggle in February. Honda/Acura saw a 41.7 per-cent drop in sales compared to February 2008. Volkswagen, Toyota, Porsche, Nissan, Mazda, Chrysler, Ford, Land Rover and Jaguar all saw double-digit percentage sales decreases in Canada compared to February 2008.
In the United States, GM delivered 127,296 vehicles in February, 52.9 per cent less than last year. Car sales were down 50 per cent and truck sales declined by 55.1 per cent.
Mr. DesRosiers offered some suggestions as to why GM has struggled the past few months. For one, GM increased manufacturer suggested retail price on its vehicles last year and expected other manufacturers to follow because of the weak Canadian dollar. They didn't, making GM uncompetitive on price, Mr. DesRosiers said.
GM also did not offer significant incentives to bring customers back, while other companies did, he said.
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