The decline was a result of falling sales of new minivans, sport utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses, which were down 5 percent to 54,834 units in February, the report said.
Sales of passenger cars rose 0.4 percent to 60,353 units, StatsCan said.
"There was a 6.1 percent gain in sales of overseas-built passenger cars, their largest increase since March 2008," the report said. "Offsetting this increase was a 3.5 percent sales decline for North American-built passenger cars."
Regionally, new vehicle sales declines were seen mostly in western provinces, led by Alberta, which was down 12.5 percent.
The agency said preliminary industry data indicate the number of new motor vehicles sold rose about 6 percent in March.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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