Initial results for December auto sales indicate the industry may be headed toward recovery, as Chrysler, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Subaru all reported month-to-month increases in December.

On a year-over-year basis, Chrysler, Ford and Mercedes-Benz all experienced declines in volume, while Subaru reported a record-breaking year with a 15 percent increase in sales.

The uptick in December sales falls in line with forecasts made by analysts at J.D. Power and Associates and Edmunds.com.

Analysts at J.D. Power and Associates forecasted that December’s new-vehicle retail sales would hit 839,600 units, which represent a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 9.1 million units.

Analysts at Edmunds.com forecasted December total sales to hit 1.01 million units, a 13.3 increase from the year-ago period. They also predicted that December's seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) would be 11.11 million, up from 10.89 million in November 2009.

“We could potentially reach a December SAAR of 11.7 million units given the current site traffic trend,” noted Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. “Our Website activity is through the roof, which makes sense as there are so many bargain-hunters scrambling to get year-end deals and cash in on the sales tax deduction opportunity that expires on December 31.”

While Web traffic was up across the board for manufacturers, Edmunds.com said some brands experienced better than average interest in the last four days of the year compared with the first three weeks of December. Here are some examples:

• BMW – Increase of nearly 70 percent; may be due to heavily publicized “BMW Joy Sales Event.”

• Chevrolet – Increase of nearly 85 percent; may be due to “Red Tag” event that includes “Holiday Cash.”

• Ford – Increase of nearly 100 percent; may be due to “Ford Year-End Sales Event.”

• Honda – Increase of nearly 100 percent; may be due to increased advertising of “Happy Honda Days.”

• Pontiac – Over ten times as much activity; may be due to media hype about close-out deals.

• Saturn – Nearly ten times as much activity; may be due to media hype about close-out deals.