TORONTO -- Ford Canada is on the road to taking the title of Canada's best-selling automaker this year, after reporting its best November in more than a decade and taking first place in terms of sales for another month.

The Oakville, Ont.-based subsidiary of one Detroit's big automakers said Monday that its November sales rose to 19,447, up 7.4 per cent from a year ago, marking its best November since 2001.

That was about 2,400 more units than at Chrysler Canada, which had its best November since 2000.

Ford's Canadian car sales rose 14 per cent, while truck sales were up six per cent.

"November was a record-breaking month for Ford of Canada," said Dianne Craig, president and CEO at Ford of Canada.

"The Canadian auto industry has seen incredible growth in 2012, and we are pleased that Ford of Canada has outpaced it in November."

For the first 11 months of 2012, Ford's sales rose one per cent to 259,194 vehicles from 256,597 in 2011.

The Ford Focus car had its best November since 2003 with a 37 per cent rise.

Sales of the Ford Transit Connect cross-over vehicle were up 93 per cent and sales of the Ford Escape sport-utility vehicle were up 47 per cent. Both vehicles had their best November on record.

The Canadian built Ford Edge, Flex and Lincoln MKT saw increases of 21 per cent, 25 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, rival Chrysler Canada said it sold 17,013 vehicles in Canada last month, up five per cent from November 2011, when the company sold 16,244.

Chrysler said the increase helped it post its longest growth streak in its history at 36 consecutive months of year-over-year sales growth.

Chrysler also called it the best start to a year through 11 months since 2000.

Passenger car sales improved to 2,802 cars sold for the month, up from 1,909 sold in the same month, one year ago.

Total truck sales dipped to 14,211 compared with 14,335 in November 2011.

Japanese automaker Toyota Canada said November sales of 14,512 Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles fell just slightly from 14,563 sold last November. However, year-to-date Toyota sales are up 21.1 per cent from last year, when the company was struggling to pump out supply after Japan's devastating tsunami in March.

The company said sales of its trucks, of Lexus vehicles and hybrids all had record months.

In the U.S., carmakers from Chrysler to Volkswagen reported brisk demand in November, and said sales rose on everything from small SUVs to sedans.

November sales, when calculated on an annual basis, are likely to be 15 million or more, the highest rate since March of 2008, according to LMC Automotive, a Detroit-area industry consulting firm.

That's higher than the 14.3 million annual rate so far this year, even though November is normally a lacklustre month due to cold weather and holiday anticipation.