(May 23, 2010) SANTA MONICA, Calif. Edmunds.com has evaluated early May car sales and determined that so far this month, General Motors (GM) retail sales are up nine percent while Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. retail sales are down 12 percent.

Within the parent company, Toyota brand retail sales are down 17 percent while the Lexus "Unprecedented Access" promotion, with its low APR and special lease offers, can be credited for increasing the brand's sales 22 percent compared with last month.

"We're noticing that Toyota's incentive program is starting to fall on deaf ears since most of the people who were open to getting deals from the automaker already made their purchases," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "Our Toyota cross-shopping data indicates that the brand has not yet recovered from recent image problems."

Last spring, about 37 percent of Edmunds.com visitors who researched one of Toyota's main competitors also checked out the Toyota brand. That "reverse cross-shopping" rate is currently averaging only about 30 percent.