Automaker General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) said today that May automobile sales rose 3% this year, compared with May of 2012. The company sold a total of 252,894 vehicles in May, about 6,300 more than total May sales at Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), which reported May sales earlier today.

GM’s sales growth beat an estimate of 1.9% from auto industry information site Edmunds.com. April was a soft month for sales, but May appears to have picked up the slack. Edmunds expects sales from all automakers to rise 11% month over month.

The largest increase came in GM’s Cadillac division, where total sales jumped 40% year over year. Buick sales were down 3.1% year over year, and Chevrolet had its best retail sales month in nearly four years.

Year to date, GM’s total sales are up 8.3% and retail sales are up 10%.

At Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), U.S. sales rose 2.5% in May to 207,952 vehicles, up from April’s total of 176,160. The weaker yen also has pumped up the Japanese carmaker’s profits, which are expected to rise by more than 40% in 2012.

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