by Calculated Risk on 5/03/2011 11:00:00 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: General Motors U.S. April sales rise 26.4%

[GM] said Tuesday that U.S. April sales rose 26.4% to 232,538 vehicles from 183,997 in the year-ago period.

Once all the reports are released, I'll post a graph of the estimated total April light vehicle sales (SAAR) - usually around 4 PM ET.

Most estimates are for a decrease to 13.0 million SAAR in April from the 13.1 million SAAR in March. Sales in April 2010 were at a 11.25 million SAAR.

Update: From MarketWatch: Ford U.S. April sales increase by 16.4%

I'll add the reports from the other major auto companies as updates to this post. Even if sales in April were solid, the next several months will probably see weaker sales due to supply disruption issues related to the events in Japan.