Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales surged 25 percent in September on demand for fuel-efficient cars and incentives for trucks, helping Japanese and South Korean automakers gain market share for a 14th-straight month.

Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker, posted its biggest percentage increase in 17 months. The Asian automakers boosted their combined sales 6.4 percent to 540,119 cars and trucks, for 39.9 percent of the U.S. market.

``The momentum Toyota has had the past few months is phenomenal,'' said David Hilton, senior manager of Cap Gemini SA's Americas automotive consulting practice. ``It doesn't look like anything can stop them, or even slow them down.''

Toyota, the maker of the gasoline-electric Prius, has claimed the No. 3 rank in the U.S. this year, outselling DaimlerChrysler AG for six months in a row. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler have struggled as high fuel prices cut demand for pickup trucks, sport-utility vehicles and minivans.

Asian automakers' market share rose 1.7 percentage points from 38.2 percent a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. Honda Motor Co., fifth in U.S. sales, had a 4.1 percent sales decline. Nissan Motor Co.'s sales fell 5.6 percent and Hyundai Motor Co.'s slid 13 percent, its first decline in two years.

Industrywide, U.S. sales rose 1.9 percent from September 2005 to 1.35 million cars and light trucks. Ford, the nation's second-biggest automaker, increased sales 4.6 percent. Sales fell 3.1 percent at GM, the world's largest, and 2.3 percent at DaimlerChrysler.

Prius, Corolla

Toyota sold 222,950 cars and trucks, and the company's U.S. unit said the gains were led by smaller models such as the Prius gasoline-electric hatchback and Corolla, Yaris and Scion cars.

Cars such as the Prius and Honda's Civic Hybrid, which combine gasoline and electric power to get more mileage per gallon of fuel, are increasing in popularity. To encourage the use of such vehicles, California last month said some hybrid vehicles would be allowed to use highway carpool lanes even if the driver is not accompanied by passengers.

The Toyota City, Japan-based company's light-truck sales increased 35 percent from a year earlier, led by a 74 percent jump for Tundra full-size pickups and a 43 percent rise for the Sequoia large SUV. Incentives including rebates and low-interest loans were added for both models last month, Toyota spokesman Xavier Dominicis said.

Average rebates on Tundra pickups rose to $3,304 last month through Sept. 24, from $2,912 in August, said Tom Libby, a market analyst at research firm J.D. Power & Associates. Sequoia discounts jumped to $3,154 from $954, he said.

Toyota, Honda

``Toyota has been spending money,'' said George Magliano, director of auto research at forecasting company Global Insight Inc. ``They're doing it selectively, and on the truck side.''

The company's U.S. market share for the month rose 3.1 percentage points to 16.5 percent.

Shares of Toyota rose 1.4 percent to close at 6,570 yen today in Tokyo while Nissan shares fell 0.7 percent to 1,323 yen. Honda shares dropped 1 percent to 4,050 yen at the 3 p.m. close.

Honda's sales fell to 116,226 Honda and Acura vehicles, as the Tokyo-based company sold fewer Accord sedans, Civic small cars and Element wagons.

``We remain inventory-constrained on Civic,'' said David Iida, a Detroit-based spokesman for Honda's U.S. unit. The company also is running short of four-cylinder engines for the Accord, limiting sales of that model, he said.

Honda's U.S. market share declined 0.5 point to 8.6 percent in September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Nissan's Altima

Nissan's sales dropped for the 11th time in 12 months, including declines of 25 percent for the Altima sedan and 12 percent for Sentra small cars. Both models will be replaced with new versions during the next month. Nissan, based in Tokyo, sold 88,340 vehicles in September.

Consumers still are drawn to more fuel-efficient vehicles, such as the new Versa subcompact, and midsize Murano wagons and Frontier pickups, Brad Bradshaw, Nissan's U.S. sales chief, said in an interview.

``We haven't seen a wholesale change in consumer preferences with the fallback in fuel prices,'' he said.

Nissan's market share declined 0.5 point to 6.5 percent.

Sonata

Hyundai Motor's sales fell to 33,384 vehicles, with declines for Accent, Elantra and Sonata cars, the Seoul-based company said in a statement. Hyundai, seventh in U.S. sales, blamed slower production in South Korea.

The decline was Hyundai's first since August 2004. The company's market share dropped 0.4 point to 2.5 percent.

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest automaker and a Hyundai affiliate, sold 23,877 vehicles, 2 percent more than a year earlier. The increase was led by gains for Optima sedans and Sportage small SUVs, the company's U.S. unit said in a statement.

Kia's market share was unchanged at 1.8 percent. Hyundai Motor shares fell 1.7 percent to close at 79,200 won in Seoul. Kia shares dropped 1 percent to 15,500 won at the 3 p.m. close.

Toyota's American depositary receipts rose 53 cents to $111.03 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 4:26 p.m. yesterday. Honda's ADRs gained 10 cents to $34.71 on the NYSE and Nissan's fell 2 cents to $22.63 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.

Mazda, Subaru

Mazda Motor Corp., one-third owned by Ford, sold 20,261 vehicles last month, 1.7 percent more than a year earlier. The company's new CX-7 crossover wagon led the sales improvement, contributing 3,822 sales in September. Mazda's market share was unchanged at 1.5 percent.

Subaru, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s automotive division, said sales rose 0.2 percent to 16,128 on increased demand for Legacy wagons and sedans. U.S. market share for the Tokyo-based company, a Toyota affiliate, was unchanged at 1.2 percent.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., trying to recover from a three- year plunge in U.S. sales, had a 14 percent increase for the month on sales of 10,287 cars and light trucks. The improvement in Tokyo-based Mitsubishi's September sales was its third consecutive year-over-year increase in monthly sales.

Suzuki Motor Corp. sold 7,940 cars and SUVs, up 11 percent from a year earlier. Isuzu Motors Ltd., a Japanese truckmaker, sold 726 SUVs and pickups, up 11 percent.

Some automakers, including Toyota, report percentage changes adjusted for the number of sales days in a month. There were 26 sales days last month, one more than in September 2005. Bloomberg reports unadjusted comparisons, which for September are about 4 percentage points higher than adjusted figures.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net; Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan wkoenig@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 4, 2006 03:04 EDT