Toyota Motor says it is anticipating record sales in the US for August, suggesting a recovery may finally be under way in the world's largest automotive market.

The new head of Toyota's US sales arm said that industrywide US vehicle sales could be stronger than expected this year.

'There are increasing signs that we might have already hit the all-time high,' Yukitoshi Funo, the president of Toyota Motors sales, told Reuters.

A Toyota spokesman said the automaker was still counting August new vehicle sales, but that it was confident of delivering strong results.

Mr Funo, who previously served as director of Toyota's Americas operations centre, said that federal tax cuts, an improvement in the stock market and the signs of growth in the economy offered encouragement.

Indeed, he estimated that US vehicle sales across the industry this year might surpass the company's forecast of slightly less than 16.5 million.