Ford takes market share as sales fall "only" 11 percent

For the automobile industry, things are getting worse -- but they're getting worse more slowly than they were, so some think it's time to celebrate. Some carmakers are doing less badly than others: market share shifting to Ford Motor Co. (F) -- the only U.S. automaker that didn't take a government bailout.

Last month, Ford reported the smallest sales drop in a year -- down just 10.7 percent from June 2008. Executives noted the emergence of regional variations in U.S. sales -- central regions outperformed both coasts, giving Ford a gain of three market-share percentage points.