After a year of nationwide slump in the US auto market, there were reports that the decline of sales had slowed in June and the auto industry may have put its worst phase behind.

Auto makers sold a total of 849,857 vehicles in the month of June which was a 7.9% drop from the sales in May, according to figures compiled by Autodata Corp. the overall June sales also indicate a decline of 28% from the same time last year.

However the good news in the Autodata report was that the rate of decline in sales had significantly slowed for at least four of the six major car manufacturers. Ford Motor Co experienced the least decline in its June sales of 107%, a major improvement on declines of 30-40% in sales that has been crippling the biggest automakers in the United States since last year.

The slowdown in declining sales figures has brought back hopes for the Detroit Big Three that the darkest days of the auto making industry may be finally over. Even Chrysler which had appealed for bankruptcy protection last month saw better sales this June. Analysts believe that the waning recession and several government incentives to the domestic auto industry may result in cautious improvements during the second half of 2009.