Ford Canada leads June auto sales for first time in more than 50 years

By Craig Wong, The Canadian Press

Ford (NYSE: F) drove its Canadian auto and light truck sales higher in June as most of its major competitors retreated, resulting in the company rising to the industry's top spot for the first time in decades.

Ford Canada says it sold 27,408 vehicles in June, a 24.6 per cent increase over the same month of 2008 as the company's North American rivals focused on restructuring their businesses.

June sales numbers compiled by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants put Ford more than 5,000 units ahead of perennial market leader General Motors (NYSE: GM), which sold 22,034 units in Canada last month despite its parent's Chapter 11 filing in the United States.

Ford says it hasn't held the top spot in monthly Canadian sales in 50 years.

"Consumers are drawn to the quality, design and value of our vehicles and we're going to keep the momentum growing with great offers this summer," David Mondragon, president and CEO, Ford of Canada, said in statement.

Following the strong June performance, Ford of Canada launched an "employee pricing" sale on Wednesday that will run until the end of August.

Overall, Canadian sales of cars and light trucks in June were down 13.2 per cent compared with a year ago as losses in passenger car sales were somewhat offset by a small gain in light truck sales.

Passenger car sales for the month totalled 74,028, down 22.9 per cent from 95,989 vehicles a year ago, while light truck sales were 64,472, up 1.5 per cent from 63,540.

GM Canada's sales were 31 per cent below the 31,887 recorded in June 2008.

"Our June performance reflects the overall softness in Canadian auto sales, but the Canadian-built Chevrolet Impala had a strong month increasing sales by 30.2 per cent," said Marc Comeau, GM of Canada's vice-president of sales, service and marketing.

Chrysler Canada's sales fell by a whopping 58 per cent to just 9,161 vehicles from 22,048 a year ago - as large-volume fleet sales fell due to the temporary shutdown of the company's North American plants while the company's parent restructured under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.

Toyota-branded sales volume dropped 18 per cent to 17,198 in June compared with 20,871 a year ago, while sales of vehicles with Honda nameplates fell 20 per cent to 11,942 compared with 14,918 in June 2008.

However Toyota said it was the company's best June ever for sales of its trucks as the Canadian arm of the Japanese auto maker said it sold 6,559 trucks.

"Toyota Trucks have captured the imagination of buyers in performance, features and resale value," said Warren Orton, director at Toyota Canada.

Meanwhile, sales of Honda's Acura luxury brand were up 13.3 per cent to 1,812 last month from 1,600 a year earlier.

Canadian auto sales numbers came out a day after their U.S. counterparts reported Wednesday that almost all of the automakers, except Honda, had sales declines last month compared with the same time last year.