by Calculated Risk on 1/04/2011 11:03:00 AM

Note: The real key is the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR) compared to the last few months, not the year-over-year comparison provided by the automakers.

From MarketWatch: GM posts 7.5% gain in December U.S. sales

[GM] reported a 7.5% increase in December U.S. sales to 224,185 cars and trucks.

Once all the reports are released, I'll post a graph of the estimated total December light vehicle sales (SAAR) - usually around 4 PM ET. Most estimates are for an increase to 12.3 million SAAR in December from the 12.2 million SAAR in November. Sales in December 2009 were at a 11.1 million SAAR.

I'll add reports from the other major auto companies as updates to this post.

Update: MarketWatch reports: Ford 2010 sales up 19% vs year ago

From CNBC:

Chrysler says its sales for December of 2010 were up 16.4 percent from the same time in 2009. The carmaker sold 100,702 vehicles in December vesus 86,523 in the same month of 2009.