Seems there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Ford Motor Co. has actually posted a profit for the first time in a long time, just not in the way you might think…

In November, Ford’s sales, including its European luxury brands, totaled 182,096 or 0.6 percent higher than last November’s sales of 180,947 vehicles. The November tally is Ford’s first sales increase since October 2006.

On the other hand, GM reported an 11 percent decline and Chrysler posted a 2 percent decline. Toyota, VW, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai all posted gains. No surprise here except for maybe VW.

Ford’s sales increase didn’t come at the all-important retail level. It was driven primarily by a rise in commercial and government fleet sales, said George Pipas, Ford’s sales analysis and reporting manager. Retail sales suffered as consumer confidence, falling home prices and high food and fuel costs converged to keep consumers from showrooms, according to Ford economist Emily Kolinski Morris.

Cars like the Ford Fusion, Edge, Focus, and Lincoln MKZ are all good sellers for Ford and help with the brands image. They are well-styled, well built cars that can only better the company. Yet it seems Ford has lost a bit of focus (no pun intended)   on what is really important in the company, the actual Ford brand.

Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come for them. They sure need it.