US June car sales slide again but slump starts to stabilise

US car sales tumbled in June as the economy remained a deep concern for consumers, but Ford posted far better results than other large carmakers and shot ahead of Detroit rivals passing through federally sponsored bankruptcies.

Carmakers said the results pointed to more stability for the economy, but fell short of marking a turnaround for the battered US auto market after a punishing four-year decline.

Ford, the only US automaker not supported by emergency US government funding, reported a 10.9 per cent drop in US sales in June that was better than some analysts forecast.

GM posted a 33.6 per cent decline in US sales in June and sounded a more cautious tone about the economy than rivals in a conference call with analysts and reporters.

“Our results are tenuous,” said GM sales chief Mark LaNeve.

He added: “Our customers are expecting a very quick exit from bankruptcy similar to what they saw for Chrysler.”

Toyota posted a 31.9 per cent sales decline in June.

The carmaker trailed Ford for second place in the US market through the first half of 2009.