(April 2, 2010) Toyota and Ford  posted big U.S. sales gains in March as industry wide incentives and improving consumer confidence brought buyers back to showrooms.

Total U.S. sales advanced 24 percent from the depressed levels of March 2009. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 11.7 million was lower than analysts' forecasts but still marked the year's strongest.

Toyota showed a 41 percent gain over March 2009 with sales of 186,863, and Ford was up 40 percent over March 2009 with sales of 183,425. Despite the huge gain, Ford fell back into third place in U.S. sales behind Toyota. General Motors, which posted a 21 percent gain over March 2009, was the sales leader with 188,011 March sales.

Honda sold 108,262 vehicles for a 23 percent gain and fourth place in sales. Nissan was fifth at 95,468 representing a 43 percent gain over March 2009. The Hyundai Group, with 77,524 sales, showed a 19 percent gain and edged closer to Chrysler with had 92,623 sales, down 8 percent from March 2009.

Subaru continued its impressive run showing a 46 percent increase over March 2009 and Volkswagen was up an impressive 39 percent. Mazda was up 6 percent, Mitsubishi up 18 percent , Daimler up 19 percent and BMW up 3 percent.