Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s biggest carmaker, led Asia-based automakers to a U.S. sales increase last month as industrywide demand stabilized amid signs of economic recovery.

Hyundai said its October sales in the U.S. jumped 49 percent from a year earlier, while affiliate Kia Motors Corp.’s rose 45 percent. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, gained less than 1 percent while Nissan Motor Co.’s sales rose 5.6 percent and Honda Motor Co.’s fell 0.4 percent.

“Hyundai and Kia continue to be the biggest beneficiaries of current market conditions,” said Jesse Toprak, head of industry analysis for TrueCar Inc., a vehicle pricing and data service in Santa Monica, California. “Consumers keep looking for the most car they can get for the money. Hyundai and Kia are giving them that.”

Industrywide sales were little changed in October as the U.S. economy returned to growth in the third quarter after a yearlong contraction, expanding 3.5 percent. Orders placed with U.S. factories rose in September for the fifth time in six months, according to a government report yesterday.

U.S. auto sales totaled 838,052 cars and light trucks last month, down 104 vehicles from a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Asia-based brands expanded sales 4.9 percent, increasing their market share to 46.6 percent, according to the research firm.

Cars, Trucks

General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. reported increases of 4.7 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, for cars and light trucks, while Chrysler Group LLC’s sales dropped 30 percent. Combined market share for the three automakers’ U.S.-based brands fell 1.9 percentage points to 44.6 percent, Autodata said.

“Last October, sales fell off to hell in a handbasket after Lehman’s collapse,” Al Castignetti, vice president of the U.S. Nissan brand, said in an interview. “There’s definitely more confidence out there than a year ago.”

Toyota, Japan’s largest automaker, sold 152,165 Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles, 164 more than a year earlier. The Toyota City, Japan-based company’s Lexus RX sport-utility vehicle, Prius hybrid, Tundra pickup and RAV4 compact SUV generated the biggest volume gains.

The company’s sales for the month were affected by limited supplies of some models, Bob Carter, group vice president for Toyota’s U.S. sales unit, said on a conference call yesterday.

“We’re starting November with 150,000 units of dealer stock, a 50,000-unit increase,” Carter said. “Ideally, we would like to have 220,000 units.”

Sales Rebound

A stronger sales rebound isn’t likely until consumers “see changes in unemployment,” and the economic recovery “will be very gradual, extending into next year and beyond,” he said.

Toyota’s U.S. market share rose 0.1 point to 18.2 percent, and the company remained second in sales volume behind GM.

Toyota rose 40 yen to 3,610 yen at 10:07 a.m. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Honda, fourth in U.S. sales, sold 85,502 Honda and Acura- brand vehicles, down from 85,864 a year earlier. The company was hurt by limited inventory of models such as Civic small cars, TrueCar’s Toprak said.

“That issue should be resolved in November,” Toprak said. “It shows that the market has been so volatile that even the best companies at managing inventory couldn’t predict where things were going.”

Honda Market Share

Honda’s market share was unchanged at 10.2 percent for October, ranking it behind GM, Toyota and Ford, according to Autodata.

Nissan sold 60,115 vehicles, an increase from 56,945 a year earlier. The Yokohama, Japan-based carmaker’s market share for the month rose to 7.2 percent from 6.8 percent.

Honda climbed 20 yen, or 0.7 percent, to 2,840 yen in Tokyo, while Nissan rose 2 yen to 652 yen.

Hyundai’s sales rose to 31,005 from 20,820 on higher demand for Elantra small cars, Santa Fe SUVs and Genesis luxury sedans, the company’s U.S. sales unit said. The Seoul-based carmaker’s 10,185-unit increase was the biggest for any automaker in the market last month.

The maker of Sonata sedans raised its U.S. market share to 3.7 percent from 2.5 percent a year earlier, according to Autodata.

“With the recent encouraging economic news of a 3.5 percent GDP growth during the third quarter, the best in two years, we are looking forward to the final two months of the year,” Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai’s vice president of U.S. sales, said in a statement.

Hyundai fell 2,000 won, or 1.9 percent, to 103,000 won at 10:11 a.m. in Seoul trading.

Subaru, Mazda

Subaru, the auto brand of Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., followed Hyundai and Kia with a 41 percent sales gain. The maker of all-wheel-drive wagons and sedans sold 18,169 vehicles, up from 12,917 a year ago. Subaru, partially owned by Toyota, raised sales through October by a market-leading 13 percent.

Tokyo-based Subaru’s market share rose 0.7 point to 2.2 percent, according to Autodata.

Mazda Motor Corp., Japan’s second-largest auto exporter, said it sold 15,068 cars and light trucks in the U.S. last month, down 8.4 percent.

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

            Oct-09    Oct-08    Change %    DSR %*
Toyota     152,165   152,101      0.04%     -3.5%
Honda       85,502    85,864      -0.4%     -4.0%
Nissan      60,115    56,945       5.6%      1.8%
Hyundai     31,005    20,820      48.9%     43.6%
Kia         22,490    15,483      45.3%     40.1%
Mazda       15,068    16,442      -8.4%    -11.6%
Subaru      18,169    12,917      40.7%     35.6%
Mitsubishi   3,867     7,486     -48.3%    -50.2%
Suzuki       1,745     3,482     -49.9%    -51.7%
Isuzu**          0       251         NA        NA
Total      390,126   371,791       4.9%      1.2%

* Daily selling-rate basis: 28 days in October 2009 versus 27
days in October 2008
** Isuzu Motors Ltd. ended U.S. sales in January 2009

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

Last Updated: November 3, 2009 20:12 EST