(August 10, 2009) Detroit automaker Ford Motor and Asian manufacturer Hyundai Motor in addition to one independent — Fuji Heavy Industries’ Subaru brand — sold more new vehicles in July 2009 than in the same month last year, according to the J.D. Power and Associates Sales Report.

  A few highlights:

• Hyundai Motor sales climbed 9% from July ’08 and combined market share for Hyundai and Kia brands rose from last July by nearly 1.5 points to 7.52% this year. Hyundai brand deliveries were up 11.9% from last year, while Kia sales rose 4.7% from July ’08. Sales of the new Hyundai Genesis nearly tripled in July and it was the fourth-best-seller in the midsize premium conventional car subsegment. In addition, the compact Hyundai Accent and Elantra as well as the midsize Sonata posted double-digit gains. Two new Kia compact models—the Forte and Soul—added a combined 8,484 units in incremental volume. Sales of the Kia Sportage compact CUV soared 80% from July ’08.

 • The Subaru brand, reported the largest year-over-year gain —July deliveries soared 34% from a year ago. Four of five models in the Subaru lineup posted gains. Subaru Forester was the brand’s volume leader in July. Forester deliveries were up by more than one-third from July ’08. Sales of the Impreza compact sporty car model increased the most of all Subaru models from last year—up 41% from July ’08. Subaru is the only brand among all 38 in the U.S. market to post a year-to-date gain in ’09—sales through the first 7 months were up 4.9% and Subaru’s share rose to just under 2%.

• Ford Motor reported its first year-over-year delivery gain (+2.5%) in nearly two years and also reported a 9% increase in retail sales for all three domestic brands. Ford gained 2 percentage points of share to end July with a 16.40% share of industry sales. Sales of the Ford Fusion midsize sedan, Flex midsize crossover (CUV) and Ranger midsize pickup climbed by two-thirds from last year, while Escape compact CUV deliveries nearly doubled. In July, Escape was the best-selling model in the compact CUV subsegment with 25 models. In addition, Ford said hybrid model sales rose exponentially. Altogether, Ford captured 2.35 percentage points of market share in July to end the month with 16.40% of industry sales vs. 14.05% a year ago. The only Ford brand to post a decline in July sales and share was Lincoln. Volvo posted the best increase—sales were up nearly 26% from last year.