May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Sales gains for Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. led Asian automakers to record U.S. market share in April as rising gasoline prices stoked demand for the most fuel-efficient models.

Japanese and South Korean brands' sales grew at least 5 percent, giving them 44.7 percent of the U.S. new-vehicle market, according to Autodata Corp. Toyota had its first advance in five months, buoyed by Yaris small cars and Prius hybrids.

The results reflected U.S. consumers' shift away from less- efficient light trucks under the strain of a slowing economy and gasoline that averaged $3.62 a gallon. With sedan-dominated lineups, Asian brands are doing better than their U.S. rivals in meeting buyers' needs, Edmunds.com forecaster Jesse Toprak said.

``There's a preference for smaller vehicles beyond just gas prices,'' said Toprak, who is based in Santa Monica, California. ``Consumers are looking at overall cost of ownership -- payment on the loan, gas cost and maintenance cost.''

Industrywide sales fell 6.9 percent for a sixth straight monthly drop, paced by a 17 percent decline for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, said Woodcliff, New Jersey-based Autodata. U.S. automakers depend more than their Asian counterparts on pickups and sport-utility vehicles.

Toyota reported a 3.4 percent sales increase, while Nissan rose 6.7 percent. Honda estimated its sales grew at least 6 percent, adding that a computer glitch delayed its final tally.

April market share for the Asian brands topped the previous mark of 44.6 percent set in July 2007.

Toyota

Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker behind GM, reclaimed the No. 2 spot in the U.S. for the year as its April gain returned Ford to third place.

Toyota shares rose 2.8 percent to 5,430 yen at the 3 p.m. close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Honda shares jumped 3.9 percent to 3,430 yen, while Nissan added 1.5 percent to 940 yen. Mazda gained 1.3 percent to 459 yen.

In Seoul, Hyundai shares added 1.5 percent to 85,900 won, and Kia fell 1.1 percent to 13,200 won.

Surges of 67 percent and 58 percent for the Prius and Yaris, respectively, paced the increases for Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota. The revamped Tundra pickup dropped 6 percent, the first such decline since the full-size truck went on sale early last year.

Fuel Efficiency

``We're seeing steady growth in the entry subcompact segment, as well as strengthening in the midsize and small SUV segment,'' Bob Carter, vice president and U.S. general manager of the Toyota brand, said in a conference call. ``Fuel efficiency will remain one of the top purchasing factors for consumers.''

Toyota's Yaris gets 35 miles per gallon, and the Prius as much as 48 while the Ford F-150 gets as little as 21 miles, according to company Web sites.

Toyota said in March that it planned to reduce the daily output of the Tundra. Carter said the company had no further production-related announcements about the truck at this time.

``To no one's surprise, the segment is down,'' Carter said. Toyota's Tundra inventory is ``in the mid-80-day supply'' level, he said. Analysts generally consider 60 days to be typical.

Toyota's market share for the month was 17.5 percent, up from 15.7 percent a year ago, Autodata said.

While a complete total was delayed, Honda sales totaled ``at least'' 134,000 vehicles, up from 126,419 a year earlier, spokesman Sage Marie said. Sales rose for the Fit and Civic small cars, midsize Accord and CR-V small SUV, he said.

Honda, Nissan

Autodata estimated Tokyo-based Honda's market share was 10.8 percent, good enough for No. 5 in the U.S., up from 9.4 percent in 2007.

Nissan, based in Tokyo, boosted sales on demand for the Versa and Sentra compact cars, midsize Altima sedans and its new Rogue compact SUV.

The company's market share was 6.1 percent, up 0.8 point.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, reported a 0.4 percent increase in April, while affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said sales advanced 16 percent.

Mazda Motor Corp., a Ford affiliate, reported a 13 percent gain on higher sales of Mazda3 small cars and Mazda5 compact minivans.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., maker of Subaru brand autos and a Toyota affiliate, said sales rose 22 percent on a surge for the new Forester small SUV and Impreza sedans and wagons.

Consumer Confidence

Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s sales dropped 26 percent and Suzuki Motor Corp. reported a 5.3 percent increase. Japanese truckmaker Isuzu Motors Ltd., which will discontinue U.S. consumer vehicle sales next year, reported a 5.7 percent decline.

Consumer confidence plunged to a five-year low in April, the Conference Board reported this week, as mounting job losses and soaring food and fuel prices cause Americans to retrench. U.S. sales of pickups, minivans and SUVs this year fell 13 percent through April, and total vehicle sales slid 7.7 percent.

Sales reports by some automakers are adjusted to reflect two more selling days last month than in April 2007. Unadjusted comparisons used by Bloomberg are about 8 percentage points apart. Toyota, for example, expressed its 3.4 percent gain as a 4.5 percent adjusted decline.

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

Last Updated: May 2, 2008 02:46 EDT