Echoing comments made by Ford and Nissan, Hyundai has revealed that it believes the U.S. auto market has finally leveled out. U.S. auto sales are down nearly 40 percent this year, but Hyundai thinks the market has finally bottomed out, with a sales increase possible by year’s end.

The U.S. auto market has been relatively flat at a 9.5 million to 10 million unit sales rate this year, which is encouraging news for the Korean automaker. With the market apparently bottomed out, there is some real potential for sales growth in the coming months.

“If you look at people who say they are going to buy in the next six months, that number is increasing month over month in a pretty big way,” Hyundai chief John Krafcik told Reuters.

Krafcik said he is also encouraged by the government’s recent passage of a ‘cash-for-clunkers’ program. The scrappage plan will give buyers up to $4,500 to trade in older vehicles on new, more efficient models. “As long as the economy has these green shoots and these little bits of sunshine, we do see some possibility for it to grow beyond the 10m unit level,” Krafcik said.

Hyundai has fared better than most in this down market with sales off by only 7.9 percent. In comparison, the market at large is down about 38 percent.

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