Ford Motor Co. was the top-selling automaker in Canada in July, recording its best performance in 31 years for the month, it said on Wednesday.
The company's Detroit-based rivals -- General Motors Co. and Chrysler -- made gains from a year earlier when they were deep into restructuring, while Toyota and Honda saw sales fall, industry figures showed.
Ford said on Wednesday that it sold 27,203 vehicles in July, up two per cent from 26,788 the previous July. Ford's car sales were up 45.6 per cent, while truck sales fell 8.9 per cent.
In July 2009, with GM and Chrysler nearly shut down, sales were tilted in Ford's favour, making last year's numbers tough for it to top this year, said David Mondragon, chief executive of Ford of Canada.
"Ford was the only major manufacturer to post a gain last July," he said in a release.
"Last year, Ford sales were up 47 per cent in July versus an industry decline of seven per cent. Posting a gain after last year's increase is good, but given the comparisons, a 31-year July sales record is impressive," Mondragon said.
Chrysler, which emerged from U.S. bankruptcy protection in June of last year under the control of Italy's Fiat SpA, said its Canadian sales jumped 39.9 per cent to 22,319 vehicles, making it the unit's strongest July since 1997.
"In June, our sales were up in excess of 100 per cent and now this is our best July in over a decade," Reid Bigland, chief executive of Chrysler Canada, said in a statement.
"When you couple these sales numbers with corporate operating profits in the first and second quarters of this year, I don't think there is any doubt that our restructuring efforts last year and alliance with Fiat are paying early dividends."
Chrysler reports its second-quarter results on Monday.
Car sales at Chrysler's Canadian arm fell 38.3 per cent, while truck sales soared 71.6 per cent.
GM Canada said its June sales were up 21.4 per cent to 23,917 vehicles. Car sales fell 15.8 per cent, while truck sales surged 61.1 per cent.
Including only its core brands -- Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac -- the automaker said sales were up 74.9 per cent in the month. GM is still in the process of restructuring and has discontinued several brands.
GM is expected to soon file for a stock offering, having emerged from bankruptcy protection last July with the help of governments in the United States and Canada.
Toyota, which had its reputation dented by a series of safety recalls that saw production of several popular models stalled in February, reported July sales of 14,882 vehicles, down 22.6 per cent from July 2009.
Honda Canada said its sales fell 11 per cent in July to 11,615 vehicles.
Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. said on Tuesday that its sales were up 9.7 per cent in July at 11,503 vehicles. It was the 18th month of year-over-year sales gains for the Korean automaker.
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