Chrysler Canada said Thursday it enjoyed its best August sales in 12 years, while Ford Canada said it retained the top sales spot in the country, boosted by a rise in truck sales.

As the automakers reported their monthly sales figure, Chrysler Canada said its August sales were up nine per cent from August 2011, thanks to an 84 per cent jump in auto sales.

Truck sales at Chrysler rose 1.7 per cent.

Overall, Chrysler sold 20,569 vehicles in August, compared to 18,816 in August 2011.

At Ford Canada, car sales declined by more than 29 per cent, but truck sales grew by more than eight per cent.

Ford Canada's total monthly sales for August were 25,461, a drop of 1.8 per cent from the same month last year.

For the year thus far, Ford Canada's overall sales were one per cent ahead of last year.

"The Canadian industry continues to show steady growth, and at Ford we are seeing an increasing number of customers in our showrooms," said Dianne Craig, the president and CEO of Ford of Canada.

GM Canada said its monthly sales were down 15.9 per cent compared to last August, but the automaker reported gains in the markets for compact and crossover vehicles.

For the month, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac dealers reported 21,070 deliveries, GM Canada said..

The figures comes as Chrysler, Ford and GM negotiate with the Canadian Auto Workers on new collective agreements. Chrysler and the CAW were reported to be talks Tuesday in Toronto ahead of a September 17 deadline for a deal.

In a recent strike vote, Chrysler workers voted 99 per cent in favour of job action if necessary.

Volkswagen Canada also said its results for August were its best-ever for the month. The company said it sold 5,782 vehicles — up more than 34 per cent from August 2011. Volkswagen also said its sales so far in 2012 are more than 10 per cent ahead of last year.

Kia Canada said it Rio subcompact car helped its August sales rise 32 per cent from the same month a year ago. Kia said it sold 7,682 vehicles last month, including 1,733 Rios.

Growth in trucks

In the United States, strong interest in trucks drove sales among the big three domestic automakers.

Ford's U.S. sales were up 13 per cent, bolstered by a 19 per cent jump in sales of the company's F-Series trucks.

GM reported a 10 percent jump in year-over-year sales for August, while Chrysler's August sales were ahead by 14 per cent.

GM senior economist Yingzi Su said the industry's sales increase was due to pent-up demand for replacement vehicles.

"People have been holding off new purchases for such a long time, since 2008 to now," she said. The average age of a U.S. vehicles is almost 11 years.

With files from the Associated Press and Canadian Press