After many false dawns, the US web car sales sector may be set to take off, according to US media reports.

Last month, industry pioneer Autobytel Inc. finally reported its first quarterly profit after seven years of losses.

Autotrader.com became profitable in June after about five years on the Web. Today, the Atlanta-based company has more than 2.2 million used car listings on its site, more than any other internet site.

And eBay Motors, launched by an e-commerce giant with a powerful infrastructure and millions of daily visitors, reached profitability almost immediately after leaving the starting line three years ago. "We're scaling really nicely now," said Stephanie Tilenius, general manager of eBay Motors. "We're on a pretty fast track for growth."