US auto sales tracked at roughly 10.7 million units in January on an annualised basis, Reuters reports.

The figure represents a small improvement on the total of 9.6 million from 12 months earlier, but is down on the previous month, when a rate of 11.2 million units was recorded.

Most major automakers reported increased activity, with General Motors (GM) posting a sales rise of 14 per cent, Ford enjoying a 24 per cent jump and Nissan seeing a 16 per cent leap.

However, sales of vehicles manufactured by Chrysler, Honda and Toyota fell by eight per cent, five per cent and 16 per cent respectively.

The decline suffered by Toyota can largely be explained by its decision to recall and suspend sales of models which have been found to contain faulty accelerator pedals.

"We consider Ford as one of the companies best-positioned to benefit from Toyota's tribulations but see others looking to gain too," said Standard & Poor's Equity Analyst Efraim Levy.

Meanwhile, in China, which surpassed the US as the world's largest auto market last year, sales of cars, multi-purpose vehicles and sport-utility vehicles increased to 1.32 million units.

According to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, total vehicle sales, including buses and trucks, almost doubled to a record 1.66 million units.

The improvement is being attributed to the government's decision to extend subsidies to car owners trading in their old models when buying newer, cleaner equivalents and buyers in rural areas.

Ricon Xia, an analyst at the Daiwa Institute of Research, predicted in an interview with Bloomberg that sales in the country could increase by 15 per cent over the duration of the year.

"The government policies continue to show effects. The numbers are better than expected," he told the news provider.

Moving to India, which is one of the world's major emerging auto markets, car sales increased to a record 145,905 units last month, compared to the total of 110,300 in January 2009.

Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest automaker, saw overall sales increase by 33 per cent during the month, with domestic sales improving by 21 per cent to 81,000 vehicles.

Industry analysts believe that this trend could continue in February as consumers look to extract value from their purchases ahead of a possible tax hike when the federal budget is announced at the end of the month.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has now suggested that Indian auto sales could increase by between 12 and 13 per cent in the next fiscal year, starting on 1st April.

Elsewhere, new figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) suggested that UK car sales hit 145,479 units last month, representing a year-on-year rise of 29.8 per cent.

The continued success of the government's scrappage scheme was a major factor, offsetting the impact of recent heavy snow in the country and a VAT rise at the turn of the year.

However, SMMT Chief Executive Paul Everitt predicted that sales will only reach 1.82 million units this year, compared with the total of 1.99 million in 2009, which was the lowest since 1995.

"Industry expects another difficult year, with the availability of finance, consumer confidence and sustaining demand post-scrappage key to performance in the second half of the year," he said.

Staying in Europe, the VDIK foreign carmakers' association has revealed that auto sales in Germany slumped by 4.2 per cent to 181,500 vehicles in January on a year-on-year basis.

The decline, which was the second in as many months following 11 straight increases previously, is being attributed to the conclusion of the country's €5 billion scrappage scheme in September.

However, the picture was more positive in France, where new registrations surged by 14 per cent as consumers looked to take advantage of the final stages of their own government's scrappage initiative.

But despite the seemingly strong demand, industry observers believe that the withdrawal of the incentives will lead to the market shrinking by between ten and 15 per cent for the full year.

"There has to come a point where the underlying weakness of the French economy is reflected in the sales figures. There will be a payback," Michael Tyndall, of Nomura International, told the Wall Street Journal.

In Spain, automakers' association Anfac claimed that January vehicle sales increased by 18.1 per cent in comparison with the equivalent period 12 months earlier.

According to the body, this type of increase is unlikely to be sustained, as the government's scrappage scheme is supporting sales volumes and a VAT rise comes into force in July.

Anfac suggested that the full-year total would be similar to the 2009 figure, which came in at 952,772 units following a decline of 17.9 per cent.

A similar scenario was played out in Italy during January, with auto sales increasing by 30 per cent to 206,341 units, according to official government figures.

Local thinktank Promotor warned that the data was skewed by purchases linked to the end of the country's scrappage scheme on 31st December, which were registered later.

In addition, it suggested that the increase should be viewed in the context of the damaging impact the economic crisis had on transaction levels for January 2009.

Meanwhile, sales in another country regarded as an emerging force in the auto industry, Brazil, increased by 6.3 per cent on an annual basis in January, according to a report by Reuters.

A total of 201,800 vehicles were sold compared with the same month in 2008, although the figure was 27.4 per cent lower than for December 2009, which saw 277,900 new registrations.

Last year proved to be a successful one for Brazil's automakers as a result of government tax breaks, although Finance Minister Guido Mantega is not expected to renew the incentives in 2010.

Finally official automaker association figures in South Africa, Argentina and Canada revealed that auto sales increased in each country by 12 per cent, 6.2 per cent and six per cent respectively.

The performance in South Africa was particularly significant, as it was the first industry-wide monthly sales increase on an annualised basis since March 2007.

Sources:

News: U.S.A.: Ford, GM outsell recall-wracked Toyota (02/02/10)

China January Passenger-Car Sales Surge on Stimulus (09/02/10)

After record Jan car sales, India seen steaming into Feb (09/02/10)

Maruti sales surge as Indians rush to beat car emissions rules (02/02/10)

Easier Loans Boost India Auto Sales (01/02/10)

U.K.: Car sales rise by 29.8% in January (04/02/10)

German new car sales fall for second month in row (02/02/10)

French Car Registrations In January Rise 14% On Year (01/02/10)

Spain Jan car sales up, to fall in H2 (01/02/10)

Italy Jan Car Sales Up 30% On Dec Carry-Over (01/02/10)

Brazil auto sales slump 27.4 percent in January: source (01/02/10)

South African Vehicle Sales Gain First Time Since March 2007 (02/02/10)

Argentina January New Car Sales Up 6% On Year - Association (02/02/10)

Canadian auto sales up for second month in January (02/02/10)

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