TORONTO - General Motors joined a number of other leading automakers Monday in showing a big improvement in June sales in Canada, but Toyota Canada saw is sales stall for the third month in a row.

General Motors Canada said sales of its "core" Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles increased 53.5 per cent to 24,897 in June, compared with 16,221 vehicles in June 2009.

If discontinued brands such as Pontiac are included, sales for the month totalled 25,725 vehicles, a 15.2 per cent increase over the 22,334 sold in the year-ago period.

For the year to date, GM sales for its core brands are up 20.9 per cent at 117,073 vehicles compared with 96,826 in the first half of 2009. However, overall sales when discontinued models are included are down 8.3 per cent at 123,488 vehicles compared with 134,690 last year.

Meanwhile, Toyota Canada Inc. reported overall June sales of 16,036 Toyota and Lexus cars, trucks and SUVs, down 13.8 per cent from June 2009. The breakdown by brand included 14,607 Toyota models, down 15.1 per cent, and 1,429 Lexus luxury vehicles, up 1.9 per cent.

Toyota Canada's sales also fell in May, dropping 16.1 per cent to 17,879 vehicles including its Lexus brand. The Japanese automaker had been resilient in Canada up until the end of March, despite a global recall of millions of its vehicles for problems ranging from sticky accelerator pedals to instability in its Lexus sport utility vehicles, but sales have since fallen each month by double-digit amounts.

One bright light for the company was the Lexus SUV, which enjoyed sales of 819 vehicles in June, up 3.7 per cent for best-ever sales for the month, the company said in a news release. And combined sales for the seven Toyota and Lexus hybrid models reached 1,022 -- up 3.9 per cent from June 2009.

Honda also reported a dropoff in June sales, down 14 per cent to 11,889 units among its Honda and Acura brands combined. The division saw sales down 13 per cent at 10,450 units and sales at the luxury Acura division dropped 21 per cent to 1,439.

Toyota and Honda's results contrasted sharply not only with GM but also Ford and a number of other automakers which posted their June sales figures on Friday.

Ford Canada reported 31,707 sales for the month, a 16 per cent increase over last June and its best monthly result since May 2000. Ford (NYSE:F) says it finished the first half of 2010 with sales up 23 per cent over 2009.

The results mean Ford remains the sales leader in Canada, a spot it also claimed in May when it sold 26,110 vehicles, ahead of General Motors, which came in second with sales of 25,995 vehicles.

Meanwhile, Chrysler Canada reported that its June sales soared 101 per cent to 9,211 vehicles, marking its seventh consecutive month of more than 20 per cent growth.

"In 2009, we restructured Chrysler Canada for future profitability and growth and in 2010 we are nailing it," Chrysler Canada president and CEO Reid Bigland said in touting those results Friday.

"But the best part about June's 101 per cent increase is that it was not a one-trick pony. Year-to-date, our sales are up 36 per cent in an industry up only slightly from 2009. Proof positive that our products and restructuring efforts are on the right track."

GM and Chrysler both filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection last spring, and managed to survive with billions of dollars in U.S., Canadian and Ontario government loans.

Meanwhile, smaller manufacturers Subaru, Kia and Nissan also reported sales records in June.

Kia Canada Inc. sold 5,864 vehicles in June, the most in its 11-year history, and marked 18 months of year-over-year sales increases. So far this year, Kia Canada Inc. has sold 26,506 units, a 19.9 per cent increase over the first six months of 2009.

Nissan Canada Inc. also reported its best June to date, selling 8,057 vehicles, an increase of 8.6 per cent over 2009. For the first half of the year, sales for Nissan Canada are up 5.2 per cent over 2009.

Nissan brand sales totalled 7,248 units in June and its luxury Infiniti brand sold 809 vehicles.

Subaru reported monthly sales up 31.4 per cent to 2,316.