Japanese automakers report U.S. sales

Toyota today reported overall best-ever monthly sales of 235,708 vehicles, an increase of 12.3 percent over May 2005. Toyota Division passenger cars posted all-time best-ever monthly sales of 144,875 units, up 19.6 percent. Scion reported all-time best-ever sales with 18,103 units sold. Lexus passenger cars posted all-time best-ever sales with 18,293 units, an increase of 38.9 percent. Meanwhile, Honda posted record May results of 141,810 Honda and Acura vehicle sales. Honda brand vehicles were up 16.6 percent, while Acura division sales were down 16.9 percent. Mitsubishi's U.S. sales rose 3.9% in May for a total of 11,821 vehicles. The automaker says it was its strongest month in over a year. Nissan posted an 11 percent drop in sales -- with Nissan brand sales down 10.5 percent, and Infiniti down 15.2 percent. Subaru reported its second best May sales month ever, with sales up 13 percent. As noted in our report on Ford, Mazda sales were up 3 percent.