Canada's new car sales slide in February

New motor vehicle sales in Canada fell by 6.7 percent on a monthly basis to 141,589 units in February, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. Overall passenger car sales dropped 8.3 percent. Within that sector, sales of North American-built passenger cars tumbled 10.9 percent, while sales of overseas-built passenger cars fell 3.9 percent, the agency said. "Sales of minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses decreased 5.3 percent in February, the third decline in four months," StatsCan said. Regionally, sales were down in seven of the 10 provinces, led by Ontario, which experienced a 9.5 percent decline after a 21.4 percent jump in January. Quebec reported the second largest provincial decrease of 9.1 percent following five consecutive monthly increases, the report said.