April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. increased U.S. sales more than 10 percent in March as demand for fuel-efficient vehicles helped Asian carmakers boost their share of the world's largest auto market.

Sales rose 12 percent from a year earlier for Toyota, Asia's largest carmaker, 11 percent for Honda and 48 percent for Mazda Motor Corp., its biggest gain in 26 years, the companies said in separate statements yesterday.

Japanese and Korean carmakers won 41.9 percent of new car sales in the U.S. last month with combined sales at General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler slipping to 51.6 percent. Higher gasoline prices boosted demand for fuel-efficient vehicles such as Toyota's Prius hybrid car and Honda's Fit at the expense of U.S.-made light trucks and sport-utility vehicles.

``This is the time I'd consider bringing in all the small cars I can to the U.S., given what's happened with gasoline,'' said Jesse Toprak, a Santa Monica, California-based auto-sales analyst for Edmunds.com. ``Toyota, Honda, Nissan are able to meet demand for small cars now.''

The average U.S. retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.53 last month, an increase of 25 cents, or 11 percent, from February, according to the U.S. Energy Department figures. In March 2006, the average was $2.43.

Market Share

Total U.S. sales of cars and light trucks rose 0.8 percent to 1.54 million, according to Autodata Corp. Combined sales for Japanese and South Korean automakers climbed 11 percent to 646,815 vehicles, for a market-share gain of 3.8 percentage points.

Market share for U.S.-based General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler fell to 51.6 percent from 55.2 percent a year earlier on lower sales of light trucks and after GM and Ford cut sales to rental fleets.

Toyota, Japan's largest automaker, sold 242,675 vehicles in March, an increase from 217,286 a year earlier, the company said. The company sold a record 19,156 of its Prius hybrid and demand for the redesigned Tundra pickup, released in February, rose 12 percent to 13,196.

Prius, Tundra

The Prius and the Tundra both benefited from incentives Toyota added in recent weeks, Don Esmond, senior vice president of the company's U.S. sales unit, said in a conference call.

``We made a conscious decision to expand Prius business this year,'' Esmond said. Toyota raised its sales goal to 175,000 of the hatchbacks this year, 64 percent more than the 106,971 sold last year, he said. In February, the Toyota City, Japan-based company had said it expected to sell about 160,000 this year.

The March pace for Prius may not be sustainable, Esmond said. A U.S. tax credit on the car, which dropped by half last year to $1,575 from $3,150, fell another 50 percent to $787.50 on April 1. Buyers avoiding the latest decline helped March sales, he said.

Toyota's market share was 15.7 percent last month, rising 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier, according to Autodata.

The company's shares rose 1.6 percent to 7,540 yen in Tokyo.

Honda, Nissan

Honda sold 143,392 vehicles in March, helped by a 23 percent gain for Accord cars and a 2.6 percent rise in Civic compact sales. The Tokyo-based company, Japan's second-largest automaker, held 9.3 percent of the U.S. market, up 0.7 point.

Honda's shares rose 2.4 percent to 4,250 yen.

Nissan Motor Co.'s sales rose 7.8 percent to 111,119. The increase was led by the revamped Altima sedan, Versa small car and Infiniti G35 sports car, spokeswoman Katherine Zachary said.

Market share for Nissan rose 0.5 point to 7.2 percent.

The company's shares gained 1.9 percent to 1,289 yen.

Toyota, Honda and Nissan report percentage changes that are adjusted for the number of sales days in each month. March 2007 had 28 such selling days, one more than a year earlier. On that basis, Toyota reported a 7.7 percent sales increase, Honda posted a 7.3 percent gain and Nissan said its sales rose 3.9 percent.

Hyundai, Kia

Hyundai Motor Corp., South Korea's largest automaker, sold 41,984 vehicles, up 0.5 percent from a year ago. Hyundai's market share was unchanged at 2.7 percent.

Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai affiliate, sold 27,567 vehicles, up 6 percent, on gains for Optima and Spectra sedans and the new Rondo wagon.

Kia's market share improved to 1.8 percent from 1.7 percent.

Mazda, a Ford affiliate, sold 37,742 vehicles, up from 25,514 a year ago. The increase was led by a 93 percent surge in Mazda3 car sales and new CX-7 and CX-9 crossovers.

The Hiroshima-based company's market share was 2.4 percent, compared with 1.7 percent a year ago.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru sold 18,027 vehicles, down 5.4 percent. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. raised sales 22 percent to 12,536, helped by its new Lancer small car.

Suzuki Motors Corp. sold 11,030 cars and SUVs, 1.3 percent more than a year ago. Isuzu Motors Ltd., a Tokyo-based truckmaker, sold just 743 pickups and SUVs last month, down 22 percent from a year ago.

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

Last Updated: April 4, 2007 02:35 EDT