DETROIT — If you're holding out for a bargain on a car, you could be rewarded this month or next.

Automakers are more likely to offer promotions on certain makes and models — particularly luxury cars, SUVs and trucks — to clear out their older models and improve their year-end numbers.

Overall, the auto industry remains cautious about generous rebates and low-cost loans to lure customers. Newly lean and profitable carmakers don't want to erode the bottom line by offering too many sweet deals that cut into profit margins.

But as the end of the year approaches, some shoppers, including many Toyota buyers, could find bargains.

So far this year, auto sales have held fairly steady, at a level well below what was considered normal before the recession. The automakers held back on rebates in July and August, which are typically big months for promotions, and results were mixed. July sales were slightly better than a year earlier. August sales were the worst since 1983.

In general, automakers offered more incentives this October than last — about $2,800 per car, a 6 percent increase, according to the car price information service TrueCar.

Many automakers kept incentives flat, while others, such as Honda and Toyota, piled on the rebates. Honda's incentives were double last year's, and Toyota's were up 50 percent. Toyota will probably maintain big rebates for the rest of the year, trying to win back customers scared off by recalls from earlier this year.

Ford, which is offering the biggest rebates on 2010 models in an attempt to grab market share from rivals, will probably keep up the promotions. The company is offering up to 15 percent off the sticker price on some of its 2010 models, such as the Ford Focus.

George Fowler, general manager of Superior Buick-GMC in Dearborn, Mich., says leasing is loosening up, making it possible to offer some smaller SUVs for around $300 a month. Banks have eased back into the leasing market after abandoning it because of the financial crisis in 2009. Today's $300 monthly leases are a good deal these days, Fowler says, but that's nothing compared with the deals he was able to push just three or four years ago.