Ford Motor Co. (F) Beats Toyota (TM) As 2013 Best-Selling Auto Brand In The US As Fusion Sedan, Fiesta Mini, Escape Crossover Broke Records

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) on Monday revealed its first 2013 sales numbers, saying it widened its lead against Toyota as the top-selling auto brand in the U.S. As of November, Ford was beating Toyota by 396,041 units for the year with 2.20 million Ford vehicles sales, a 12.3 percent jump from 1.96 million sold in 2012.

Automakers will announce their December and 2013-total sales figures on Friday. (Click here for the preview.)

While General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) is consistently the top total volume seller – GM sold 2.55 million units in the first 11 months of 2013 – the company sells its vehicles in the U.S. under four brands. Only Chevrolet comes anywhere close to Toyota and Ford, with 1.79 million unit sales for the year through November. Toyota and Ford are the only two automakers expected to top 2 million unit sales in the U.S. for the year, and only four brands top 1 million unit sales for the year. Honda brand sales are 1.24 million units for the year, as of November.

In a statement announcing the numbers, John Felice, Ford vice president for U.S. marketing, sales and service, underscored Ford’s strong performance in U.S. coastal markets traditionally dominated by foreign auto brands and pointed to double-digit-growth cars, trucks and SUVs.

The F-Series pickup truck will continue to be the best-selling vehicle in the U.S., as it has been every year since 1981. At the same time, Ford says its Escape compact crossover, which had its best year since the vehicle was introduced in 1999, helped lift total utility-vehicle sales by 10 percent. The Explorer is turning out to be the best-selling midsized SUV in the U.S. for 2013. The Fusion midsized sedan, introduced in 2006, and the Fiesta mini, which debuted in 1976, both set sales records this year.