UPDATE 1-Ford Canada posts best month in a decade in June

(Updates to add Nissan monthly sales data)

* Ford says led market in June and for 2 straight quarters

* Nissan sales rose 8.6 percent

* Chrysler sales more than doubled in June

TORONTO, July 2 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Canadian arm said on Friday its sales were up 15.7 percent in June, its best monthly performance in a decade, while Nissan (7201.T) Canada sold 8.6 percent more vehicles last month than it did a year earlier.

Ford said that based on industry trends, it was likely the top-selling automaker in the country in June. That would mean it led the market for two consecutive quarters for the first time in more than 50 years.

Chrysler Canada reported its June sales figures on Thursday but most other major automakers had yet to post their Canadian results by late Friday.

Ford Canada said it sold 31,707 vehicles in the month, with car sales up by 23.3 percent and truck sales up 13.2 percent.

"The Ford brand posted a 25 percent increase (last) June when the industry was down 14 percent, so a 16 percent gain for Ford of Canada in the month of June (2010) is extremely significant," Ford of Canada Chief Executive David Mondragon said in an interview.

In June of 2009, General Motors Co [GM.UL] and Chrysler were both in bankruptcy protection.

Ford has announced it will offer employee prices to the public through August for all its 2010 and 2011 models, adding to other sales incentives.

Mondragon said he expects the introduction of revamped models to feed the company's momentum in Canada. The fuel efficient Ford Fiesta recently went on sale, with the first one was sold last week. The new Explorer will come in the fourth quarter, to be followed by the 2011 Focus.

Nissan said total sales rose 8.6 percent to 8,057 units. Its Nissan brand had its best June ever, selling 7,248 vehicles, or 7.5 percent more than in the same month of 2009, while the Infiniti nameplate accounted for 809 vehicles sold, a 19 percent increase.

Versa remains the strongest selling model in the Nissan lineup, but sales slipped 6 percent to 1,856 units. The Sentra model jumped 39 percent to 1,679 cars sold.

Chrysler Canada reported its June figures on Thursday. The company, which emerged from bankruptcy protection under the control of Italy's Fiat SpA (FIA.MI), said its sales doubled in June, the seventh straight month of at least 20 percent growth at the retail level.

Chrysler said it sold to 18,502 vehicles, compared with 9,211 in the same month of 2009.

The company's June gains included a tripling of minivan sales, a Chrysler mainstay, as well as record sales for the Dodge Ram pickup truck and Jeep Wrangler. (Reporting by John McCrank, with additional reporting by Frank McGurty; editing by Peter Galloway)