(February 2, 2011) The automotive industry recovery continued in January with sales up 17 percent over January 2010.

The U.S. Big Three were all up — General Motors by 22 percent, Ford by 9 percent and Chrysler by 23 percent.

Asian companies were also up in January — Toyota by 17 percent, Honda by 13 percent, Hyundai by 24 percent and Nissan by 15 percent.

"We're still not at the oil prices that would tilt the industry," said Paul Ballew, chief economist at Nationwide. "If oil prices don't trip us up, Detroit should have a pretty good year."

In an indication of the market's growing strength, sales to individual consumers — so-called retail buyers — advanced 27 percent at Ford and 36 percent at GM last month. Ford said it was the largest such increase from one January to the next in more than a decade.

General Motors dealers in the United States reported 178,896 total sales in January, a 23-percent increase from a year ago for the company’s four surviving brands. The gain was driven by solid retail sales which were 36 percent higher than a strong January a year ago.

It was GM's fifth consecutive monthly sales gain and biggest since the start of the recession in late 2007. In January 2010, GM sold a combined 1,727 Saab, Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn models — brands that have been shuttered or sold.

Both GM and Ford saw sales to rental fleets decline as retail sales increased. Ford's retail sales gained 27 percent.

Strong demand for pickups and crossovers led the continued recovery. GM's full-sized pickup sales gained 28 percent. Crossovers improved by 31 percent. The Chevrolet Equinox was up 35 percent and the GMC Terrain was up 48 percent.

Truck demand at Ford was up 28 percent. Ford said sales of F-Series pickups rose 30 percent, while sales of the newly redesigned Explorer jumped 73 percent.

Gains in the U.S. by other companies included Volkswagen, 7 percent; BMW, 21 percent; Mitsubishi, 37 percent; Subaru 21 percent; Suzuki, 26 percent; and Daimler, 14 percent. Mazda lost nine percent in January.