Ford says retail sales up 15 pct through November

DEARBORN, Mich. - Ford (F) says retail sales have risen 15 percent through November of this year.

The automaker says it expects to sell at least 2.4 million Ford-brand vehicles this year, enough to make it North America's top-selling brand. It says it expects December sales to "grow substantially" compared to last December.

The automaker says the strongest growth this year was in the West and Southeast. It says it will sell more than 600,000 passenger cars this year, the most since 2000.