April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. increased U.S. sales by 6.9 percent in March to a record, as Asian brands took market share from General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

Asian automakers' U.S. market share rose to 38.1 percent, while the combined share of GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit fell to 56.6 percent, according to Bloomberg data. Sales rose for Hyundai Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. while Nissan Motor Co.'s declined, the companies said yesterday.

Toyota, the world's second-largest carmaker, introduced a redesigned Camry sedan, the new Yaris compact car and a version of the RAV4 sport-utility vehicle that burns less fuel than Ford's Explorer. Those models and Honda's Civic compact car are meeting buyers' demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, said Jesse Toprak, an analyst with Edmunds.com, an automotive web site.

``Toyota has the right product, right image, and right distribution system,'' said Toprak, based in Santa Monica, California. ``The consumer mindset permanently changed already because of the prolonged nature of high gas prices.''

Asian carmakers' eighth consecutive month of increasing market share adds to the woes of GM, which is trimming jobs and cutting production to improve earnings from last year's $10.6 billion loss. Ford plans to cut 30,000 jobs as part of the company's second restructuring.

Fuel Economy

U.S. consumers are placing a higher priority on fuel-economy, which is also helping sales of models such as the Toyota Corolla and Scion xA small cars, Jim Press, president of the company's U.S. sales unit, said in an interview yesterday.

``There's a continuing interest in gas mileage,'' Press said. ``It's a long-term trend.''

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. was almost 20 percent higher on April 3 than a year ago, according to data on automotive service AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

Toyota raised its market share in March to 14.2 percent, from 12.9 percent a year ago. The Toyota City, Japan-based company began selling cars in the U.S. in 1957 and is now fourth in U.S. sales, behind GM, Ford and Chrysler.

GM and Ford reported March sales declines of 14 percent and 4.6 percent as they tried to rely less on fleet buyers such as rental agencies. DaimlerChrysler's sales of Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz vehicles rose 2.9 percent for the month. The combined U.S. market share of the three carmakers fell 2.8 points last month while Asian companies' market share rose 1.9 points.

Shrinking Market

U.S. vehicle sales fell 2.9 percent to 1.53 million units last month, according to data by Bloomberg and Autodata Corp.

Honda, fifth in U.S. sales, sold 128,806 vehicles last month, up from 128,548 a year earlier. A 14 percent increase for the Civic, Honda's best-selling U.S. model this year, offset a 10 percent drop in sales of a new version of the Accord sedan. Honda's light-truck sales also rose on higher demand for Pilot SUVs, Odyssey minivans and Ridgeline pickups.

Incentives offered by competitors and the debut of the new Camry, Accord's chief competitor, hurt Accord sales last month, Alan Baum, director of industry forecasting for Birmingham, Michigan-based Planning Edge, said in an interview.

``There were closeout incentives on the old Camry,'' Baum said Monday. `` Accord wasn't price competitive.''

Honda's March sales rose 0.2 percent while its market share for the month was 8.4 percent, up 0.2 point from year ago, according to Bloomberg data.

Toyota shares fell 0.5 percent to 6,480 yen in Tokyo. Shares of Honda fell 0.5 percent to 7,350 yen.

Nissan

Nissan, sixth in U.S. sales, sold 103,095 vehicles last month, compared with 105,804 last year. Declines were led by the Maxima sedan and Quest minivan, Jed Connelly, Nissan's U.S. sales chief, said in an interview yesterday.

Nissan's March sales fell 2.6 percent while its market share last month was unchanged at 6.7 percent. Nissan's shares fell almost 1 percent to 1,390 yen.

Hyundai, South Korea's largest automaker, sold 41,766 vehicles last month, up from 40,063 a year ago. Gains were led by a 54 percent surge for the Sonata sedan which sold a record 17,487 vehicles. Hyundai's U.S. unit also sold 1,817 Azera large sedans, introduced earlier this year.

Hyundai's market share improved 0.2 point to 2.7 percent last month. The Seoul-based carmaker's shares rose 3.3 percent to 85,100 won in Seoul.

Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai affiliate, sold 26,004 vehicles last month, up 1.1 percent from a year ago. A 52 percent increase in sales of the Seoul-based company's Sedona minivan offset an 18 percent drop for Kia's car models.

Kia's market share was 1.7 percent, up 0.1 point from a year ago. Kia's shares rose 3.2 percent to 20,750 won.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 4, 2006 04:52 EDT