New vehicle sales plummet in Alberta while increasing in every other province
Sales off 13.5% in wake of low oil prices, economic downturn
Every province in Canada saw an increase in new vehicle sales in September except Alberta, where the numbers were way down.
A total of $950.6 million worth of new cars and trucks were sold in Alberta this past September, down from $1.1 billion in September 2014, according to Statistics Canada.
That's a decrease of 13.5 per cent.
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Nationwide, sales were up seven per cent, year-over-year.
The largest increase came in British Columbia and the territories (which are lumped together in this survey), where sales were up 15.7 per cent.
The data comes from Statistics Canada's monthly New Motor Vehicle Sales Survey, and echoes what auto dealers have already been seeing in the wake of low oil prices and Alberta's economic downturn.
Calgary Motor Dealers Association executive manager Jim Gillespie said 2014 was a record-setting year for car and truck sales, but things have changed in 2015.
"I believe consumers are leaning towards buying pre-owned vehicles at this time," he told CBC News in October.