Richmond Hill, Ontario – Sales of passenger cars and light trucks dropped by 10.3 per cent in November 2008 when compared to November 2007, according to industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers. The drop marks the lowest November sales in Canada since 1998, although year-to-date sales remain up by 0.5 per cent.

Passenger cars were down 11.9 per cent, while sales of light trucks dropped by 8.7 per cent.

“It has finally caught up with us up here in Canada,” DesRosiers said. “For all of the last three months … all the consumer has heard is that the auto sector in North America, and in particular the Detroit Three is in crisis (and) that, my friends, is code for ‘don’t buy a vehicle’. So for sales to be down in November by 10.3 per cent should surprise no one. Indeed, one could take the view that it is a minor miracle that sales were down only 10.3 per cent in November.”

DesRosiers warned that he is forecasting “more of this throughout 2009″, and has a current forecast of the market dropping by more than 100,000 units, or about 8 per cent.

Sales of cars and light-duty trucks for November 2008 were as follows: