Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. stocks rose as Asian automakers headed for a record share of the U.S. auto market, the world's largest, after gaining on General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. in November.

Asian carmakers' market share was 34.5 percent through November, compared with 32.6 percent for all of 2003, Autodata Corp. figures show. November sales rose 26 percent for Nissan, Japan's second-biggest automaker, and 4.4 percent for Toyota, Asia's biggest carmaker, boosted by new models such as Nissan's Armada sport-utility vehicle and Toyota's Scion-brand cars.

General Motors and Ford have failed to improve vehicles enough to stem gains by Toyota, which has led U.S. quality surveys for five straight years. The two biggest U.S. carmakers have said they will cut North American production in the first quarter of next year by more than 7 percent.

``If it's not utter fear in Detroit, it should be,'' said Dennis Virag, vice president of Automotive Consulting Group who is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ``Toyota is the industry benchmark in terms of quality and reliability, and Camry and Corolla continue to be workhorse models. Nissan has done a terrific job in terms of developing products that have generated real excitement.''

Toyota shares rose as much as 1.6 percent and traded 1 percent higher at 3,850 yen in Tokyo at 9:51 a.m. Nissan shares rose as much as 1.8 percent to 1,097 yen. Honda shares rose as much as 1.6 percent to 4,970 yen.

General Motors, the world's largest automaker, said November sales fell 16 percent and Ford, second biggest in the U.S., dropped 7.3 percent. DaimlerChrysler AG, the third largest U.S. carmaker, reported a 4.4 percent increase.

Market Share

For November, the Asians' combined market share was 35.8 percent, and the total for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler fell to a record monthly low of 56.6 percent, according to Woodcliff, New Jersey-based Autodata.

Total U.S. auto sales fell to 1.2 million vehicles in November from 1.3 million a year ago. Sales of cars and light trucks sold by the 10 Asia-based companies that compete in the U.S. rose 5.4 percent last month to 429,234.

Japan's biggest automakers spent less on low-interest financing and rebates than their U.S. competitors, underlining their popularity. Toyota offered incentives worth $3,411 in the first half of November, down from $3,475, according to CNW Marketing Research in Brandon, Oregon.

Honda boosted incentives to $2,426 from $2,311 the month before, and Nissan increased to $2,172 a vehicle from $2,136, CNW said. General Motors offered incentives worth $4,973 per vehicle in the first half of November, down from $5,098 in October, Ford pared incentives to $4,861 from $5,113 and Chrysler unit to $4,738 from $4,816, CNW said.

U.S. Production

Japan's four biggest automakers are boosting production in the U.S. to shield themselves from currency fluctuations and to cut delivery times. Nissan opened a factory in Canton, Mississippi last year to make the Titan pickup. Toyota is building a factory in Texas to make the Tundra pickup. This will be it's tenth U.S. manufacturing facility.

Toyota sold 154,272 vehicles in the U.S. last month. The Toyota City, Japan-based company credited demand for Prius gasoline-electric cars, Corolla small cars and Highlander SUVs for the gain. Toyota's market share for the month rose 1.2 percentage points to 12.9 percent, Autodata said.

Quality Rankings

Toyota's reputation among U.S. consumers was aided this year by its fifth consecutive first-place ranking in J.D. Power & Associates' annual survey of new vehicle quality. The company's Lexus brand was rated the industry's most dependable by Westlake Village, California-based J.D. Power for a 10th consecutive year.

Nissan sold 80,376 vehicles last month. Titan pickup trucks and Armada and Pathfinder sport-utility vehicles led the gains. Nissan's market share in November was 6.7 percent, a rise of 1.6 percentage points.

Honda, Japan's third-biggest automaker, sold 95,524 cars and trucks. Sales of the Accord car, Honda's best-selling model, fell 16 percent to 23,392. The company's redesigned Odyssey minivan rose 17 percent to 12,254. Tokyo-based Honda's market share last month was 8 percent, an increase of 0.3 point.

``Honda is growing this year, but it's not as stellar as Nissan and Toyota because they are in fewer (vehicle) segments than those two and some key products, like Civic and Accord, are getting bit long in the tooth,'' said Eric Noble, president of Car Lab, an Orange, California-based consulting firm.

Hyundai

Hyundai, South Korea's largest automaker, sold 29,682 vehicles, rising from 27,643. The Seoul-based company's increase was led by sales of Sonata sedans and Santa Fe SUVs, boosting Hyundai's market share 0.3 point to 2.5 percent.

Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai affiliate, increased sales 44 percent to 23,303 from 16,173 on gains for its Optima and Amanti sedans. Kia's market share rose 0.6 point to 1.9 percent.

Mazda Motor Corp., a Ford affiliate, sold 17,618 vehicles, down 8.7 percent. The Hiroshima, Japan-based company's market share was unchanged at 1.5 percent.

Sales of Subaru cars and wagons, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s auto brand, rose 5.6 percent to 13,817 on higher sales of the redesigned Legacy model. The Tokyo-based company's market share improved 0.2 point to 1.2 percent.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., in its second year of falling U.S. sales, sold 8,301 vehicles last month, down 51 percent. The Tokyo- based company's market share declined by almost half to 0.7 percent from 1.3 percent a year ago.

Suzuki Motor Corp., a General Motors affiliate, raised sales 18 percent to 4,827. The Shizuoka, Japan-based company's share improved 0.1 point to 0.4 percent.

Isuzu Motors Ltd., a Tokyo-based truckmaker partly owned by General Motors, said its sales of SUVs fell 16 percent to 1,514. Isuzu's market share was unchanged at 0.1 percent.

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

Last Updated: December 1, 2004 20:05 EST