Ford Down Only 24.2% in May, GM Declines by 29.6%

May’s car sales numbers are in and one brand that was a big surprise was Ford. As the American automaker flew under the radar while Chrysler and GM shared the bankruptcy spotlight, it gained market share and increased sales from April by 20%. Ford said May was the highest sales month it had since July 2008.

GM and Chrysler didn’t do too shabby either, considering both are in the middle of restructuring in bankruptcy court. GM was down 29.6% compared to May 2008 and had its best month of 2009. Chrysler was down 47% compared to last May and also had its best month of the year.

Subaru did the best, with a loss of only 5% compared to the same month last year. Suzuki did the worst, with a whopping 75% decline versus last year.

May 2009 sales:

GM: down 29.6%

Ford: down 24.2%

Chrysler: down 47%

Toyota: down 39%

Lexus: down 33.9%

Honda: down 39.7%

Acura: down 34%

Mercedes-Benz: down 30.5%

smart USA: down 56.6%

BMW: down 27.8%

MINI: down 27%

Nissan: down 32.5%

Infiniti: down 38.1%

Audi: down 17.7%

Volkswagen: down 12.4%

Hyundai: down 20%

Porsche: down 29%

Mazda: down 40.1%

Suzuki: down 75%

Kia: down 16%

Subaru: down 5%

Mitsubishi: down 58.3%