DETROIT — With fears brewing that the U.S. housing market is in for another dive, the automakers remain optimistic that the market — and their pickup sales — will continue to rebound.

Pickup sales are closely tied to the housing market, says Mike DiGiovanni, GM's U.S. sales analyst. So as housing rebounds, so will sales of pickups. GM predicts housing starts — the number of homes that builders start constructing — will jump to an annual rate of 650,000 by the end of 2010, up from 450,000 in 2009.

Truck sales this year are down 32.5 percent through October, according to Autodata. Mainstream small and large pickup sales are down about 31 percent, but luxury trucks, which bring makers the largest profit margins, are down 53 percent for the year.

Traditionally, pickups have been one of the most lucrative product segments for the U.S. automakers. They have loyal buyers, many of whom use their trucks primarily for work, wearing them out and replacing them often.

But when housing crashed, so did truck sales. And housing, which had been improving a bit, could slide into a second period of decline. Housing starts slipped a bit in October, and mortgage delinquencies continue at record levels.

"Pickup sales are heavily tied to housing sales," DiGiovanni says. Even as housing sales show some weakness, DiGiovanni says he's confident they'll bounce back. Normal demand would be about 1 million housing starts a year, and the housing industry has been cutting back inventory just as the auto industry has.

In theory, that could mean more demand for trucks, although Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at consumer Web site Edmunds.com, cautions that many people have been hanging on to their old trucks for longer in this economy.

"It's one of those vehicles that's not a status symbol in most areas of the country," she says. "You can kick it around, and it doesn't have to be shiny and brand new to get the job done."

Still, Will Churchill, owner of Frank Kent Motor in Fort Worth, Texas, says he's already seeing a bounce in truck demand. Supplies are low, and Churchill says he's sure sales would be higher if he had more crew-cab trucks on the lot to sell.

"It's hard to say exactly what's driving it," he says. More customers are qualifying for credit these days, which helps, and gas prices have been consistently below $3 a gallon.

"There was an exodus away from pickup trucks and SUVs when gas prices got high, and we're seeing some people who made that transition realize a car is just not fitting their needs, and they're coming back into pickups," Churchill says.