2009 May Auto Sales: Ford's Sales Figure Best Since July 2008

Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. auto sales fell less than expected in May marking its best performance since July 2008, the automaker reported on Tuesday.

Ford (F, Fortune 500) said total domestic vehicle sales fell 24.3% compared to a year earlier. That was a narrower decline than the Edmunds.com analysts' forecast of a 28.5% drop and better than the 32% retreat in April.

Though Ford's car models fell by 25.5%, sales of its mid-sized Fusion model were actually up 9.4% last month, the only model that rose from last year.

Crossover SUV sales dropped 9%, and traditional SUV sales tanked 37.4%. Overall, Ford truck sales fell 23.4%.

Shares of Ford rose 1% in early afternoon trading.

Ford's results came as rivals Chrysler and General Motors (GMGMQ) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. When GM entered bankruptcy on Monday, Ford was left as the lone "Big Three" company that has not requested federal bailout funds or gone bankrupt.

As its domestic rivals flailed, Ford continued to build on its growing market share.

Ford's domestic brands outpaced Toyota's (TM) for the first time since since April 2007, making it the second-largest automaker in terms of monthly U.S. sales behind GM. Ford estimated on Tuesday that its May sales helped it gain the highest market share that the company has enjoyed in three years.

"At Ford, the future is now," said Ken Czubay, Ford's vice president of sales, in a statement. "New products account for 50% of our sales, and demand for these products is driving our market share gains."

All of the major automakers will report their monthly sales later Tuesday afternoon. Edmunds.com expects industry-wide sales in May to have fallen 36.1% from May 2008, which is slightly worse than April's 34% year-over-year drop.

Analysts predict the combined monthly U.S. market share for Chrysler, Ford and General Motors' domestic vehicles will be 43.9% in May 2009, down from 45.3% a year ago and 46.6% in April.