Volkswagen sales dive, while Canadian auto sales at record high

Volkswagen's emissions-cheating scandal carved a swath out of the company's North American sales in November.

In Canada, its sales declined by 5.5 per cent, even as overall vehicles sales rose 4.7 per cent compared with a year earlier in November.

VolkswagenCanada sold 4,575 vehicles in the month, after seeing sales rise in October, according to figures from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.

• New vehicle sales plummet in Alberta while increasing in every other province
• Canadian auto sales up 5.1% in October

In the U.S., its vehicle sales dropped 25 per cent compared with a year ago, to 24,000 vehicles.

Volkswagen has admitted its diesel vehicles contain software that turns on pollution controls during government testing and turns them off during real-world driving.

It halted sales of most of its new diesel models in September, shortly after U.S. regulators began a probe of its emissions of nitrogen oxide.

The scandal initially seemed to involve only two-litre engines, but has since spread to three-litre engines and even to gasoline-powered engines, which may emit more carbon dioxide than regulators allow.

Vehicle sales at record levels

Vehicle sales in Canada are poised to set a record. November sales of cars and light trucks were up 4.7 per cent to 145,426.

Consumers were embracing slightly lower gasoline prices and an improved economy this fall.

GM Canada said it sold 13.2 per cent more vehicles through its Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers in November 2015, delivering 21,812 vehicles.

Ford Canada saw sales rise by 3.1 per cent to 20,685 vehicles.

FCA Canada, formerly Chrysler, said its November sales rose 0.6 per cent to 21,038 vehicles, driven largely by demand for its Jeep brand.

Toyota sales rose 3.4 per cent to 14,016 vehicles, including10,147 trucks, a 33 per cent increase. Sales of the RAV4, made in Cambridge, Ont., are at 39,297 year to date.

Honda Canadareported a record month of November on sales of 14,761 units by its Honda and Acura divisions combined, up 2.3 per cent compared with the same month in 2014.