New vehicle sales plummet in Alberta while increasing in every other province

Every province in Canada saw an increase in newvehicle sales in September except Alberta, where the numbers were way down.

A total of $950.6 million worth of new cars and trucks were sold in Alberta this pastSeptember, down from $1.1 billion in September 2014,according to Statistics Canada.

That's a decrease of 13.5 per cent.

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Nationwide, sales were up seven per cent, year-over-year.

Thelargest increase came in British Columbia and the territories (which arelumped together in this survey), where sales were up 15.7 per cent.

The data comes fromStatistics Canada's monthly New Motor Vehicle Sales Survey, andechoes what auto dealers have already been seeingin the wake of low oil prices andAlberta'seconomic downturn.

Calgary Motor Dealers Association executive manager Jim Gillespie said 2014 was a record-setting yearfor car and truck sales, but things have changed in 2015.

"I believe consumers are leaning towards buying pre-owned vehicles at this time," he told CBC Newsin October.