Chrysler Canada posts 101-vehicle gain in rising market

There may be a recession in the United States, but Canadian auto sales through the end of September continued to rise, going up 2% in September 2008 vs September 2007 and for the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 2007. Toyota gained dramatically, rising 15% to easily beat Ford and Chrysler. General Motors remains unchallenged with nearly 31,000 sales, down 7% from September 2007 but still over 10,000 over Toyota. Nissan, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki all posted double-digit gains while Chrysler stayed stable, adding exactly 101 sales. Greater sales of Dodge vehicles triumped over shortfalls at Chrysler and Jeep; truck sales rose and car sales fell. Chrysler had lowered prices dramatically to reflect changes in the exchange rates; as a result the company kept its position for the month behind GM, Toyota, and Honda, but ahead of Ford. For the year, Chrysler is behind General Motors and Toyota, but ahead of Ford and Honda.