For the largest auto makers, 2009 was their annus horribilis, their worst year in about three decades.

The Detroit Free Press had a handy graphic whose format I reproduce below.

CHRYSLER down 4%Lowest level since '62

GM down 6.1% Buick sales up 37.4%

NISSAN up 18.2% Frontier sales up 113.1%

HONDA up 24% Moves ahead of Chrysler

TOYOTA up 32% Corolla leads again

SUBARU up 33% Outback sales up 106%

While some of those percentage increases look rather effervescent, keep in mind the numbers for 2008 were fairly gloomy, dropping 18 percent from the prior year.

So 2009 looked good by comparison even though last year was still decidedly lousy. Sales for the entire industry were under 10 million vehicles.

Still, things are looking up. As NPR's Frank Langfitt said on All Things Considered Tuesday:

What we're seeing is more stability in the industry. Sales are slowly rebounding from these historic lows. Last year were among the worst sales in more than a quarter century. Of course, some companies are doing better than others. In Detroit, Ford has been the standout. The company didn't take a government bailout, didn't go bankrupt like GM and Chrysler. And in it's been gaining share of the market, kind of on the strength of some quality products, like the sedan, the Fusion, has been doing very well. So a lot of analysts see Ford turning the chaos of last year into an opportunity.