The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, July 5, edition that General Motors said on Tuesday it sold 27,151 vehicles in Canada last month, up 4.2 per cent from a year earlier on increased demand for pickup trucks and compact sport-utility vehicles. A Reuters dispatch to the Post reports that the increase made for GM's best June performance since 2011, the company said. For the first six months of the year, total sales were up 15.6 per cent, the strongest first half of the year since 2008. In contrast, Fiat Chrysler said it sold a total of 26,926 vehicles in June, down 7 per cent from the year before as sales of its Jeep brand declined. United States auto sales fell for a fourth consecutive month in June, the major automakers reported on Monday. Canadian auto sales hit a record high in May, prompting Bank of Nova Scotia senior economist Carlos Gomes to recently raise his 2017 sales forecast to two million vehicles from 1.94 million.