General Motors Corp.'s Ed Peper was even more upbeat.

'I think we're at rock bottom,' the North American vice president for Chevrolet said in an interview with The Associated Press. 'I would say we're at the bottom and stabilizing. I think it gets a little bit better each month for the rest of the year.'

But on the heels of another calamitous month for the sector -- U.S. new car and truck sales fell 37 percent in January -- the industry's fortunes are tenuous at best. James O'Sullivan, CEO of Mazda North America, said a lot of people think the industry has hit bottom, but he's not so sure.

Mazda has seen an uptick in showroom traffic this month, 'but nothing comes to the point that says, 'Hey, we're out of this thing right now,'' O'Sullivan said.

Mazda is still predicting U.S. vehicle sales in 2009 will be slightly above 11 million, with much of that coming in the second half of the year. Other automakers and analysts have been predicting industrywide sales will drop as low as 10.5 million after falling to 13.2 million last year from 16.1 million in 2007.

O'Sullivan said there are many potential buyers sitting on the sideline due to lack of confidence in the economy.

Still, auto industry analyst Erich Merkle said he thinks the industry may have reached a tentative plateau, particularly if labor markets can stabilize.

'With all the money right now that's being pumped into the system ... I think that we'll start to see some revival in our economy and we'll start to see sales on a sequential basis exceed that of the first quarter,' Merkle said.

But that doesn't mean the sector is headed toward a substantial rebound just yet. More bad economic news could easily erode any gains the industry may make after posting 15 straight months of lower sales from the previous year.

'I think what we're going to do here for the next couple of months is trace along the bottom,' Merkle said, 'and as we get to the second half, we'll see some improvement.'

Farley wouldn't detail how Ford's February sales are shaping up, but he said sales so far are mirroring trends seen last month.

'It seems like we're kind of humming along at the same pace this month,' he said.

Ford's U.S. sales fell 40 percent in January, but sales of its F-series pickup and Fusion midsize sedan helped the Dearborn company post its fourth consecutive month of higher retail market share.

Farley's comments came as Ford introduced its latest new products, including a Harley-Davidson F-150 truck; Transit Connect, a small commercial van that has had success in Europe; and a souped-up 2010 Taurus.

Ford shares climbed 3 cents to $1.85 Wednesday.