Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. led U.S. auto sales to the first monthly gain since 2007 as the government’s “cash for clunkers” rebates lured shoppers to showrooms.

Ford, Toyota and Honda all reported more August deliveries than a year earlier, while General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC and Nissan Motor Co. fell. The industry total rose 1 percent from August 2008 to 1.26 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Buoyed by the incentive program, the U.S. market snapped a streak of monthly declines dating to October 2007, before the start of the recession in December that year. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 14.1 million, based on Bloomberg data. That would be the most since May 2008.

“It was a big success,” said Erich Merkle, president of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Autoconomy LLC, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Cash for clunkers is going to hand the baton off to a fundamentally stronger economy as we move into the fourth quarter and into next year.”

Merkle said September sales will be down because some sales were pulled forward into August because of the Car Allowance Rebate System.

The industry results reflect more than three weeks of transactions under the clunkers program, which ran from July 27 through Aug. 24. Buyers of new, more fuel-efficient autos were eligible for as much as $4,500 for trade-ins of older models.

Clunkers Effect

GM and Ford each said that without the rebates, the annual sales rate in August would have been 10.5 million vehicles, an improvement from the 9.7 million rate in June, the last month without the incentives.

GM expects U.S. auto sales to total 10.5 million for 2009, while Ford projects the figure to be 10.5 million to 11 million. Last year’s total was 13.2 million. Both automakers projected sales to be stronger in the year’s second half.

“The economy is now out of the recession and recovering,” said Michael DiGiovanni, the sales analyst for Detroit-based GM. “This is still going to be a bumpy ride. There’s still some caution out there.”

Ford’s August total jumped 17 percent, Toyota climbed 6.4 percent and Honda advanced 9.9 percent. GM deliveries fell 20 percent, Chrysler’s slid 15 percent and Nissan dropped 2.9 percent, the companies said today.

Analysts’ Estimates

Ford, GM and Chrysler sales were less than analysts forecast, while Toyota, Honda and Nissan outperformed those predictions.

Analysts adjust their estimates based on the number of selling days in a month. August had 26 such days, 1 fewer than a year earlier. Bloomberg uses unadjusted percentage changes, which would be about 4 points lower than the adjusted figures.

“Chrysler’s problem is they didn’t have much in the way of inventory,” said Joseph Phillippi, president of AutoTrends Consulting Inc. in Short Hills, New Jersey. “They shut down production and had been aggressively burning inventory, even before cash for clunkers.”

The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker said it had a 28-day supply of vehicles at month’s end. The industry standard is 60 days. Ford said its inventory fell 17 percent to a 36-day supply.

“We think the inventory situation will get back to where we want it in two or three weeks,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service.

Automakers’ Totals

Ford’s sales including the Volvo brand climbed to 182,149 cars and trucks, Toyota increased to 225,088. Honda rose to 161,439. Chrysler decreased to 93,222 vehicles and Nissan fell to 105,312. GM dropped to 245,550 light vehicles.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, said U.S. sales rose 47 percent to 60,467, the highest monthly total ever. Subaru, the auto brand of Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., said sales increased 52 percent.

The annual sales rate is important to the auto industry because manufacturers, suppliers and dealers use it to compare monthly totals by taking into account seasonal buying patterns. The rate, known as SAAR, is an estimate of full-year deliveries based on an extrapolation from any given month.

U.S. auto sales averaged 16.8 million this decade through 2007.

Toyota, based in Toyota City, Japan, accounted for 19 percent of vehicles purchased under the rebate program, the most of any automaker, the Transportation Department said. Tokyo- based Honda had 13 percent and Nissan, also based in Tokyo, had 8.7 percent. Vehicles from Seoul-based Hyundai made up 7.2 percent.

Autos from GM, Ford and Chrysler made up about 39 percent of clunkers sales, less than the companies’ 45 percent share of the U.S. market through July.

Sales for the rest of this year will be a “write off” before a rebound in 2010, said John Casesa, managing partner of consultant Casesa Shapiro Group LLC in New York, said on Bloomberg Radio.

“We’re spending at depression levels,” he said. “We’re due for a big recovery.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.net; Keith Naughton in Southfield, Michigan, at Knaughton3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 1, 2009 15:59 EDT