(RTTNews) - After nearly a two-year industry slump, the U.S. auto sector shows signs recovery with major automakers reporting higher sales for the month of October, lead by rising customer demand for new cars and crossover utility vehicles. Positive auto sales growth for the month sounds the bellwether of the U.S. economy, which is just recovering from the grip of recession.

General Motors posted a 4.1% growth in sales, Ford Motor Co. (F: News ) sales rose 3.1%, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM: News ) sales edged up less than 1%, and Daimler AG (DAI: News ) sales improved 9.4% over last year. However, Chrysler reported a 30% drop in its sales for the month.

General Motors Co., now known as Motors Liquidation Co. (MTLQQ.PK: News ), posted a 4.1% growth in its sales, which is the company's first year-over-year gain since January 2008. The company attributed the sales growth to the strong performance by its four core brands. GM noted that it gains market share for the third straight month, estimated at 21% of the total light vehicle market.

Ford Motor said Tuesday that its October U.S. sales rose 3.1% from last year, due to strong customer demand for new cars and crossover utility vehicles. This marks the third time in the last four months that Ford has reported higher sales.

GM reported that October sales increased 4.1% to 177,603 units from 170,585 units in the year-ago month. The company's sales grew by 13% from 156,673 units in September 2009.

There were 28 selling days in this month, compared to 27 selling days last October.

Total car sales fell 13% to 63,935 units, while total truck sales grew by 17% to 113,668 units in the prior year month.

Total sales of core brand vehicles rose 11.6% to 162,514 units, while non-core brand vehicle sales dropped 39.6% to 15,089 units.
Among GM's four core brands, Cadillac sales increased 21.6% to 11,602 units, GMC sales rose 20.4% to 25,423 units, Buick sales improved 18.5% to 9,053 units, and Chevrolet sales grew 8.5% to 116,436 units over a year ago.

The four brands accounted for about 95% of GM's retail sales, compared to 85% last year.

Pontiac sales declined 18.4%, Saturn was down 57.8%, HUMMER dropped 77.6%, and Saab declined 74%.

In October, GM produced 228,000 vehicles, including 92,000 cars and 136,000 trucks, which was down 28% over a year earlier.

GM's production for the third quarter dropped 42% to 531,000 vehicles, including 205,000 cars and 326,000 trucks.

At October month-end, inventories of vehicles for U.S. dealers decreased 45% to 444,000, including 172,000 cars and 272,000 trucks, when compared to the October last year.

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