July 2011 was a harsh month for several Canadian automakers and auto sales in general, as total units sold were down an estimated 14.2 percent compared with the previous month.

Several manufacturers saw sales decreases as full production ramps up in Japan following the tsunami that hit earlier this year. Toyota bucked that trend, selling 12,167 vehicles total, an increase of 6.1 percent compared to June 2011. That`s was a decrease of 18.2 percent year-over-year though.

Ford continued to dominate, holding the top spot overall by selling 27,344 vehicles overall, a slight increase of one percent over last July. Ford also has the most sales year-to-date with 167,721.

Chrysler finished second in overall sales with the best July in its history, selling 23,385 vehicles total, an increase of five percent. Leading the way was the Ram truck and Dodge Grand Caravan, which were the second and third-best selling vehicles in Canada, respectively.

Kia also had its best July ever, selling 6,383 vehicles, which was a 12.9 percent year-over-year increase. Several vehicles in its lineup saw sales increases, including the Sorento, Sportage, Sedona and combined Forte lineup.

Subaru did see a year-over-year increase of 2.6 percent by selling 1,916 vehicles, but that was the first time in a half a year that the automaker didn`t break a monthly sales record.

General Motors sold 20,345 vehicles in July, a year-over-year decrease of 13.8 percent. Overall sales year-to-date are up 3.2 percent compared to 2010. Nissan struggled as well, seeing a decrease of 9.6 percent over July 2010. It sold 7,523 units total for the month.

It was good news for a couple of European-based automakers, as Volkswagen sold 5,522 units, good for a 17 percent increase year-over-year, buoyed by the popular Jetta sedan. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, sold 2,276 vehicles in July, pushing ahead of last July by an even four percent.

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