UPDATE 2-Canadian auto sales edge 1.5 pct lower in May

(Adds GM Canada sales, analyst's note)
By Allison Lampert
MONTREAL, June 1 (Reuters) - Canadian auto sales for May
edged 1.5 percent lower on an annual basis, the first monthly
decline since December 2015, but the industry could still be on
track to hit a new record this year, analysts wrote on
Wednesday.
Total Canadian auto sales slipped to 194,866 vehicles last
month, with General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) GM.N reporting a 16.4 percent
year over year decline, partly because May 2016 had two fewer
selling days than the same month a year earlier, wrote analyst
Dennis DesRosiers in a note to clients.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FCHA.MI said on Wednesday it
sold a monthly record of 31,724 vehicles in May, up 0.3 per cent
compared with the same month in 2015. Ford Motor (NYSE:F) Co F.N on
Wednesday reported slight gains in May auto sales in Canada,
while Honda Motor Co Ltd 7267.T said sales rose 5 percent.
Despite the decline in May auto sales, year-to-date figures
rose 5.6 percent to 798,089 vehicles sold during the first five
months of 2016, compared with the same period a year earlier,
DesRosiers wrote.
In April, total Canadian industry sales exceeded 200,000
light vehicles, the most in a month.
In a May report, TD Economics said the industry was on track
for another sales record in 2016.
"A new record at the end of 2016 is still possible,"
DesRosiers wrote.
"We believe Canada is still on pace for a record year, which
we expect to finish at 1.94 million light vehicles sold," wrote
Bill Rinna senior manager, North American Forecasts at LMC
Automotive, in an email.
In the United States, auto industry sales fell 6 percent in
May, with General Motors, Ford and other manufacturers reporting
lower U.S. vehicle sales for the month due to sluggish demand
for sedans and the two fewer selling days.
Major automakers reporting May sales on Wednesday sold new
vehicles at an annualized rate of 17.45 million vehicles,
Autodata Corp said, up from 17.42 million vehicles in April. The
May annualized rate was generally in line with analysts'
expectations.
The U.S. auto industry also was headed for another record
year, even as May new-vehicle sales reported through Wednesday
declined due to weak demand for sedans, analysts said. General
Motors Co GM.N , the largest U.S. automaker, reported an 18
percent drop to 240,450 vehicles from a year earlier.