(Reuters) -Ford on Friday reported a 9.3% rise in U.S. auto sales for July compared to the previous year, helped by sustained demand for pickup trucks and SUVs.

Aggressive discount programs and its "zero, zero, zero" campaign, offering a $0 down payment, zero percent interest for 48 months and zero payments for the first 90 days on most vehicles, helped the company gain some market share.

Ford, whose lineup leans heavily on SUVs and pickup trucks, has also continued to benefit from demand from buyers towards larger vehicles.

Sales of its top-selling F-Series were up 6.6% to 73,538 trucks in July.

The Detroit automaker notched sales of 189,313 units compared with 173,223 units a year ago.