Ford tops 2010 sales in Canada

Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. (F-N) captured top spot in the Canadian vehicle sales rankings in 2010, the first time it has done so in more than 50 years, the auto maker said.

Sales jumped 19 percent to 267,974 from 225,216 in 2009. Ford said it was the only auto maker to increase passenger car sales from year-earlier levels, but also noted that it sold 97,913 F series pickup trucks, the highest sales level of a single vehicle line in Canada.

“We expect the Canadian market to grow moderately this year, by about 2 percent,” Ford Canada president David Mondragon said in a statement.

Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. said it sold 118,507 vehicles last year, a 15 percent improvement on the annual sales record it set in 2009.

General Motors Co. (GM-N) said its U.S. sales rose 6 percent in 2010 to 2.215 million vehicles from 2.084 million a year earlier.