US car sales have fallen, but are showing signs of stabilising, according to new sales figures.
GM, Ford and Chrysler all posted figures for May that had dropped less than expected.
Overall, sales in May rose to 9.9 million units, way below the 14.3 million sold in May 2008, but up from an average of 9.5 million for the first four months of the year, according to analyst Autodata.
Mike DiGiovanni, GM sales analyst, said the market is "starting to make a turn for the positive.”
"We think we are starting to emerge from this global downturn," he added.
The news came in a month when Chrysler operated in court protection after its 30 April bankruptcy, and GM was preparing to enter bankruptcy protection.
Not everyone was positive about the results however, with Ford executives cautioning against reading too much into them.
“It’s like less awful,” Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of sales and marketing, said. “This is still a very fragile industry. This isn’t any time to rejoice. It’s just a slight uptick.”
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