* Ford analyst: Chrysler closing dealers boosted sales

* Sales for most other automakers constant in May

* Ford shares rose 3.4 pct on Friday

By David Bailey

DETROIT, May 29 (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales likely rose in
May to a close to 10 million unit annualized rate, supported by
sales at closing Chrysler dealerships in the past week, Ford
Motor Co's (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) chief sales analyst said on Friday.

That result would represent a rise from the roughly 9.3
million sales rate in April, but does not yet reflect a
confirmation that the U.S. auto industry sales downturn has
begun a recovery, George Pipas said in an interview.

"The circumstances surrounding this month's sales results
are such that the elevation off of this floor that we had been
operating under is taking place mostly at Chrysler dealerships,"
Pipas said.

Chrysler, which filed for bankruptcy protection on April 30,
has been closely watched by investors and government officials
to see whether its sales would hold up.

Chrysler is seeking bankruptcy court approval for the sale
of most of its assets to a new company led by Italy's Fiat SpA
(FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) which could come as soon as Friday. Its swift
reorganization is seen as almost a dry-run for the possible
bankruptcy filing of General Motors Corp GM.N.

GM is widely expected to file for bankruptcy protection on
Sunday or Monday to complete a similar sale process.

"We could see volatility, we could see really distressed
pricing," Pipas said. "I think we won't have a true picture for
some time as to what is happening with industry sales."

Ford expects to report a retail market share increase in May
from a year earlier, following the trend in recent months, while
total sales will be down year over year along with other
automakers, Pipas said.

Pipas said industry sales had run at about the same rate as
from January to April for the better part of May. The automaker
has not changed its position on expectations that industry sales
will begin to pick up in the second half of the year.

"We are in the camp that there is going to be a recovery,
but the question as to whether it started in May or whether (May
sales) are due to something else will have to be assessed,"
Pipas said.

Ford shares rose 19 cents or 3.4 percent to close at $5.75
on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

Most other automakers had a relatively constant rate of
sales in May, Pipas said.

Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli told the bankruptcy
court on Thursday that the 789 dealerships that Chrysler plans
to terminate June 9 had sold 4,000 vehicles at retail and
transferred 15,000 to other dealerships through Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the automaker later said the closing
dealerships had accounted for 26,000 vehicles through Thursday,
but she could not give a breakdown on where the vehicles went.
(Reporting by David Bailey, editing by Matthew Lewis)