The US automotive market is showing signs of strength, with a number of the country's leading manufacturers delivering encouraging results.

Ford reported a one per cent rise in sales during June to more than 289,000 vehicles per month, heralding the first positive performance this year for the firm.

Car sales in particular flourished, rising by 8.5 per cent in comparison with the previous year's figures to more than 100,000 units.

Ford's head of North America sites, Steve Lyons, praised the performance: "We're pleased with the overall result this month.

"On the car side, we are benefiting from the new products we introduced late last year."

At General Motors an enormous sales rise of 46 per cent was posted for the month, almost doubling sales from the same period in 2004.

The figures represented GM's best monthly sales performance for almost 20 years, with a new employee discount scheme helping to drive up demand.

Meanwhile, Spain's car manufacturers have also reported strong sales today, delivering record sales.

For the first half of the year the National Association of Car and Truck Manufacturers (ANFAC) revealed that car sales had risen by 2.6 per cent to 809,000 units.