July proved to be a tough month for auto dealerships in Alberta.

Data released on Monday by Statistics Canada showed sales in the province and total dollar volume dipped from a year ago.

In July, the federal agency said there were 19,595 sales in Alberta, which was down from 21,791 sales in July 2017. The total dollar volume for sales fell from $965.32 million a year ago to $909.01 million in July.

The same trend was experienced across the country as total sales fell to 179,587 from 184,809 a year ago.

But the total dollar volume in Canada rose to $7.33 billion in July from $7.29 billion in July 2017.

Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald, including 12 years as a senior business writer.

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