Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.,Honda Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co., buoyed by the U.S. government’s “cash for clunkers” rebates, had their highest monthly sales this year and led Asian brands to their first combined sales gain in 15 months.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, had a 6.4 percent increase, Tokyo-based Honda’s sales rose 9.9 percent and Hyundai’s surged 47 percent. Overall U.S. demand grew 1 percent to 1.26 million units, lifted by a 12 percent rise for Japanese and South Korean models.

The gain for Asia-based brands was the first since May 2008 and gave them a record 52.3 percent share of the market, while that of U.S.-based competitors fell to a record 40.8 percent, according to Bloomberg and Autodata Corp. figures.

“Cash for clunkers has clearly benefited the Toyotas and Hondas of the world,” said Joe Barker, an analyst at consultant CSM Worldwide Inc. in Northville, Michigan. “They had the right mix of product at the right time.”

The incentive program helped snap a streak of monthly industrywide declines dating to October 2007, before the start of the U.S. 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.

Trade-In Program

Under the clunkers program that 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. The pace of sales in September will fall with the end of the federal Car Allowance Rebate System, according to industry analysts, Toyota and Nissan.

“I think that hands down, this program was the best thing the Obama administration has done to date,” Al Castignetti, U.S. vice president of Nissan brand sales, said in an interview yesterday. Yokohama-based Nissan’s sales fell 2.9 percent, the smallest decline in a year.

Bob Carter, Toyota’s vice president of U.S. sales, estimated the company’s share of clunker sales was 19 percent, the biggest of any individual company. The program likely generated more than $600 million in additional state tax revenue, Carter said on a conference call yesterday.

Toyota, based in Toyota City, Japan, sold 225,088 Toyota, Lexus and Scion brand cars and light trucks. The company’s Corolla compact was the biggest seller under the federal rebate program, based on Transportation Department data.

Honda, Nissan

The company’s dealers had just 11 days of inventory at the end of the month, with the supply of Prius hybrids dipping to only three days, Carter said.

Toyota’s market share rose 0.9 point to 17.8 percent in August, according to Autodata Corp. The company fell 2.5 percent to 3,920 yen at the close of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Honda, fourth in U.S. sales behind General Motors Co., Toyota and Ford Motor Co., sold 161,439 Honda and Acura brand vehicles last month, gaining on higher demand for Civic and Fit small cars, Insight hybrids and compact CR-V utility vehicles.

The company’s market share rose 1 percentage point to 12.8 percent, according to Autodata.

Nissan sold 105,312 vehicles, with Versa compact cars, Cube wagons and Altima sedans providing the biggest gains.

‘Incredible’ Customer Traffic

“Customer traffic was incredible last month, back to what we were seeing in the days of a 17 million-unit market,” said Castignetti. “We think September will fall back to a more normal level, but we’re not expecting a catastrophic drop-off.”

Nissan’s market share shrank 0.4 point to 8.3 percent.

Honda fell 2 percent to 2,910 yen and Nissan declined 3.5 percent to 640 yen.

Hyundai, based in Seoul, sold 60,467 vehicles last month, the most ever for South Korea’s largest automaker. The company was among the industry’s most aggressive in promoting clunkers- related rebates, even advancing funds to dealers in July to grab sales ahead of competitors.

“Hyundai made the most out of the program,” said Jesse Toprak, head of industry analysis for TrueCar Inc., an automotive pricing and data service in Santa Monica, California. “What the program did was bring out consumers who otherwise would have still hesitated to buy.”

Hyundai’s market share grew 1.5 percentage points in August to 4.8 percent, according to Autodata. The carmaker gained 0.9 percent to 115,000 won in Seoul.

Kia Motors Corp., Hyundai’s affiliate, also had record sales, reporting a 60 percent increase, led by its new Soul wagon and Forte small car.

Subaru, the auto brand of Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., said its sales rose 52 percent. Mazda Motor Corp., a Ford affiliate, had a 12 percent gain.

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

U.S. Sales in August for Asia-based Automakers

            Aug-09     Aug-08     Change %   DSR %*
Toyota     225,088    211,533      6.4%      10.5%
Honda      161,439    146,855      9.9%      14.2%
Nissan     105,312    108,493     -2.9%       0.8%
Hyundai     60,467     41,130     47.0%      52.7%
Kia         40,198     25,065     60.4%      66.5%
Mazda       26,542     23,680     12.1%      16.4%
Subaru      28,683     18,932     51.5%      57.3%
Mitsubishi   6,813      9,200    -25.9%     -23.1%
Suzuki       5,749      6,083     -5.5%      -1.9%
Isuzu**       -           289       -          -
Total      660,291    591,260     11.7%      16.0%

* Daily selling-rate basis; ** Isuzu Motors Ltd. ended U.S.
sales in January 2009.

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

Last Updated: September 2, 2009 04:51 EDT