July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. and other Asian automakers captured a record share of U.S. sales in June, consolidating gains against General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. in the world's biggest car market.

Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. each boosted sales by more than 10 percent to lead the Asians to 42.7 percent of the U.S. market, according to Bloomberg data. U.S. automakers, paced by a surprise 21 percent decline at GM, fell to a record low. Overall industry sales slid 3 percent from June 2006 levels.

Toyota recorded its 23rd monthly gain in the past two years, while new products and improvements in quality surveys failed to translate into sales gains for the U.S. automakers. Detroit-based GM and Ford are trying to boost sales to individual buyers and pare low-profit sales to rental-car companies, which get discounts for buying in bulk.

``This is a market that is moving toward the strength of the import carmakers,'' Kevin Tynan, an Argus Research Corp. analyst in New York, said in an interview. ``It will be increasingly difficult for the domestic companies to win sales.''

Toyota reported a 10 percent increase for the month. Honda rose 11 percent and Nissan was up 23 percent. Ford's 8.1 percent drop was its eighth consecutive monthly decline. Chrysler slipped 1.4 percent.

GM's sales plunge, announced after a pre-holiday early close of regular trading, pushed its shares down as much as 4.8 percent.

Record Low

The U.S. brands of GM, Ford and Chrysler accounted for 50.3 percent of the U.S. market, according to Bloomberg data, down from the previous low of 50.6 percent in January. The previous high for the Asians was 42.1 percent, also in January.

Automakers sold cars and light trucks at an annualized, seasonally adjusted rate of 15.6 million, compared with 16.2 million in June 2006.

GM boosted spending on incentives late in the month in an effort to lift sales, only to be ``surprised'' by the incentive spending at some rivals, company sales analyst Paul Ballew said on a conference call. Toyota, for example, offered rebates starting June 15 of as much as $3,500 or no-interest loans on the new Tundra pickup truck. The offer runs through July 31.

Toyota's Advance

Toyota, helped by rising U.S. sales, overtook GM as the world's largest seller of vehicles in the first quarter. Toyota is also gaining on Ford to become No. 2 in the U.S. It trailed Ford by 200 sales in June and has shrunk the gap for the first six months to 39,558, from 319,208 a year earlier.

Toyota has been helped by demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, such as the Prius hybrid, as gasoline prices have topped $3 a gallon in the U.S. for the third consecutive year. Prius sales rose 83 percent last month to 17,756.

``The current operating environment favors manufacturers on the car side more than the truck side,'' GM's Ballew said in an interview. ``We dominate in trucks. But in an environment with a shift back to cars, that's an advantage for those manufacturers.''

Sales of Tundra pickups, Toyota's biggest new model, more than doubled to 21,727 -- about one-third the volume of Ford's F-Series and half that of GM's Chevrolet Silverado. Toyota also reported increased sales of Camry sedans and Yaris subcompact cars.

At Ford and GM, fleets accounted for more than a quarter of their sales in 2006, when GM posted a $1.98 billion loss and Ford had a record $12.6 billion deficit.

Fewer Ford Fleets

Ford said its sales to rental-car companies fell 39 percent in June and 30 percent for the first six months.

At the same time, the company said sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brand models to individual buyers rose last month, the first such increase since October. The company didn't provide figures.

Ford, of Dearborn, Michigan, said its Edge crossover wagon, which accounted for 12,470 sales in June, helped the company's retail results. Ford also had a 20 percent increase in Focus small cars.

The company's F-Series pickup trucks fell 0.5 percent in June, the eighth straight monthly decline.

Pickups Plunge

GM's decline was paced by a 23 percent drop in Chevrolet full-sized pickups and other light trucks and a 60 percent plunge in the mid-sized TrailBlazer sport-utility vehicle. Cars fell 19 percent in June.

DaimlerChrysler AG had a 1.8 percent decline, including a 5.8 percent fall at the Mercedes-Benz division. The Chrysler unit is scheduled to be sold this quarter to Cerberus Capital Management LP.

Honda, the second-largest Japanese automaker, was led by a 39 percent jump in Civic small cars and a 59 percent gain for the CR-V, the best-selling U.S. SUV.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, said U.S. sales increased 11 percent for a record month. Gains were led by a 29 percent increase for the mid-sized Sonata sedan. A redesigned Santa Fe SUV and the larger Veracruz SUV also helped lift sales.

Nissan's improvement was paced by an 83 percent surge in Altima sedans, as well as higher sales of compact Sentra cars and Versa subcompacts, the Tokyo-based company said.

GM and Ford introduced new incentives late in June in an effort to boost sales.

On June 26, GM began offering three-year, no-interest financing and $1,000 discounts on many 2006 and 2007 Buick, Pontiac, Chevrolet and GMC models. The promotion is scheduled to run through July 9.

Ford also began providing three-year, no-interest loans last week on its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, in an effort to clear dealer lots for 2008 models.

Quality Gains

In addition, Ford is touting the results of the annual J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality Study released June 6. Ford had four brands, Lincoln, Jaguar, Mercury and Ford, in the survey's top 10.

GM, Ford and Chrysler have relied on truck sales for profits, models that have been most affected by gasoline prices.

``It's been a tough go for these companies because they've been largely dependent on big vehicles and the market is moving away from big vehicles,'' said John Casesa, managing partner at Casesa Strategic Advisors in New York.

There were 27 selling days in June, one more than a year earlier. The analysts' estimates for GM, Ford and Chrysler adjust for the difference. Bloomberg and some automakers use unadjusted percentage comparisons, which would be about 4 points higher.

Ford shares fell 22 cents to $9.42 at 1:19 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares rose 23 cents to $93.45. Toyota's American depositary receipts were down 15 cents to $127.97.

Markets closed three hours early today ahead of the July 4th Independence Day holiday in the U.S. GM and Toyota released their sales after regular trading.

At 5:10 p.m., GM shares rebounded to $37.96 for a 6-cent decline for the day.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan, at wkoenig@bloomberg.net; Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 3, 2007 17:44 EDT