More Canadians are buying cars

In June, Canadian sales of cars and light trucks jumped 7.3%.
Sales advanced from the previous year’s figure of 150,432 to 161,413, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc.
Sales for the first and second quarter of 2005 combined, showed an increase of 2.2% to 808,510 vehicles.
According to Statistics Canada, new cars and light trucks represented a fifth of retail sales in 2004.
June sales increases are led by General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler. Sales at DaimlerChrysler rose 12% to 27,170 vehicles and increased 19% at General Motors to 42,779 vehicles. They rose 0.7% at Toyota Motor Corp. to 15,888 and fell 5.1% at Ford Motor Co. to 24,757.