GM, Chrysler sales rise in Canada while Ford falls

General Motors Co. said today its Canadian sales surged 11.6 percent to 18,756 vehicles in September.

Leading the way for GM: Chevy sales gained 13 percent while Buick gained 31 percent. Car sales surged 22 percent while truck sales rose 7.5 percent during the month, GM said in a statement.

For the year to date, GM's Canadian sales have fallen 5.8 percent to 176,179 vehicles, the automaker said.

Ford Motor Co.'s Canadian sales dropped 8 percent in September from a year earlier, while Chrysler Canada said its sales rose 2 percent, its best September since 2000.

As automakers started reporting their Canadian monthly sales on Tuesday, Ford said car sales fell 11.9 percent to 4,994 in September, and truck sales fell 6.9 percent to 18,606.

Despite the drop, Ford said it was still the country's top-selling automaker for the month and year-to-date with total September sales of 23,600, down from 25,656 in the same period last year. Year-to-date sales were down 0.1 percent at 219,182 vehicles.

Chrysler said September sales rose 2 percent to 19,555 vehicles, with year-to-date sales up 6 percent at 194,572.

"Fuel efficient vehicles like the Dodge Dart and Fiat 500 helped grow our passenger car sales by 36 percent in September," said Chrysler Canada COO Dave Buckingham in a statement.

"In addition, record sales of the Chrysler 200 have propelled Chrysler to be the No. 1 seller of mid-size cars in Canada."

Reuters contributed to this report.