Toyota's Canadian sales plummet

Toyota Canada's sales stalled for the third month in a row in June.

The automaker reported Monday its sales of new vehicles fell almost 14 per cent compared with a year earlier.

The results came on the heels of positive numbers released by some of its major competitors.

Toyota said it sold 16,036 Toyota and Lexus cars, trucks and SUVs, down 13.8 per cent from June 2009. The total included 14,607 Toyota-branded vehicles, down 15.1 per cent, and 1,429 Lexus luxury units, up 1.9 per cent.

Sales of Lexus luxury SUVs were up 3.7 per cent to 819, their best-ever June, the company said in a news release. Sales of the seven Toyota and Lexus hybrid models reached 1,022, up 3.9 per cent from June 2009.

Toyota's overall decline contrasted sharply with numbers from its rivals.

GM Canada sales up

General Motors Canada said Monday that sales of its "core" Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles increased 53.5 per cent to 24,897 in June, compared with 16,221 in June 2009 during GM's wrenching restructuring. Including discontinued brands such as Pontiac, GM's sales last month totalled 25,725, up 15.2 per cent from the year-ago period.

Ford remained the sales leader in Canada. It announced Friday that sales rose 16 per cent from a year earlier to 31,707 in June, its best month in 10 years.

Toyota continues to struggle in the wake of massive recalls that started last year. It has recalled more than 8.5 million vehicles for various problems, including sticking gas pedals, brake software glitches and defective floor mats.

The company was fined a record $16.4 million US in the United States for responding too slowly when the recall crisis erupted.