DETROIT — Lured by the government's cash for clunkers campaign, car and truck buyers started returning to showrooms last month, as Ford Motor Co. reported its first U.S. sales increase in nearly two years and other major automakers said sales showed signs of stability.

Hyundai and Subaru joined Ford in the plus column. Chrysler, which had been the worst-performing of the major automakers, managed a single-digit decline in July. If converted to an annual rate, overall industry sales could top 10 million cars and trucks for the first time in 2009.

Ford, led by the redesigned midsize Ford Fusion, and strong sales of the Escape crossover vehicle and F-series pickup line, offered encouraging signs for industry analysts who predicted a modest improvement in the second-half of the year.

July sales of Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury light vehicles rose 1.6 percent from the same month last year. It was the first year-over-year rise since November 2007. Ford sold 158,354 vehicles, a 2.2 percent increase over June's figures, showing that the worst U.S. auto sales slump in a quarter-century may be easing.

LAYOFFS LIKELY AT GM AS BUYOUT FALLS SHORT

DETROIT — About 6,000 General Motors Co. blue-collar workers have taken the latest round of early retirement and buyout offers, but it fell short of the company's goal, meaning more layoffs are likely.

GM has about 54,000 factory workers and wants to end the year with 40,500, a cut of about 13,500. Yesterday's report means that about 7,500 too few workers took the offers, setting the stage for more layoffs.

The automaker announced in June and July that it would close 15 U.S. factories employing about 22,000 workers by end of 2012.

GOOGLE CEO RESIGNS FROM APPLE BOARD

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple Inc.'s board because of the companies' conflicting interests as competition between the one-time allies heats up.

The split announced yesterday comes just a few weeks after Google unveiled plans for a personal computer operating system that could siphon sales from Apple's Mac line and just a few days after the Federal Communications Commission contacted the companies about Apple's decision to block a Google application from its popular iPhones.

Regulators from the Federal Trade Commission had already been looking into whether Schmidt's dual role on the boards of Google and Apple would make it easier for the technology trailblazers to collude in ways that would diminish competition.