This is certainly a great time for would-be car buyers to become actual car buyers as a slew of incentives are allowing manufacturers – especially Ford and Toyota – to post huge gains in March. GM’s spike of 21% was enough for them to reclaim the top U.S. spot after Ford grabbed it for the first time in over ten years. Ford’s sales jumped a whopping 40% while Toyota rose 41%.

Total U.S. sales were up 24% in March from the same time last year, despite the weakest demand in almost thirty years and not living up to analyst’s expectations; March was the strongest month since August and ‘cash-for-clunkers’. There is concern, however, that this high figure may be artificially inflated and is not expected to outlast the deals which served as the catalyst to bring people into showrooms.

Chrysler saw a performance decrease of 8%, being outsold yet again by Nissan, which climbed 43%. Hyundai and Nissan rose 15% and 22% respectively.

- By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)