Hyundai, Nissan lead Asian brands; Toyota, Honda weak

Hyundai and Nissan reported strong October sales, while Toyota slumped and Honda was even with last year.

The sales tallies reflect supply problems at Toyota and Honda after the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan disrupted shipments of vehicles and parts. Nissan escaped, and Hyundai, headquartered in South Korea, largely was unaffected.

Hyundai: October sales were up 23% from a year earlier, pushing the automaker's sales for 10 months to 545,316, up from the 12-month record of 538,226 last year.

Even though the U.S. economy hasn't fully healed, the "environment appears to be stabilizing," making shoppers more likely to become buyers, said Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai Motor America's executive vice president of national sales.

The Sonata midsize sedan was up a modest 3.9%, but remained the company's best seller. The redesigned Elantra compact was a strong second.

The company's quirky Veloster three-door small car, not on sale a year ago, contributed to the gains.

Hyundai often brags about its line of cars rated 40 miles per gallon on the highway, and said 37% of the vehicles it sold in October were 40-mpg models.

It said that the overall average fuel economy of all the cars and trucks it sold in October was 37 mpg using government regulators' formula for corporate average fuel economy (CAFE), which computed to an average window-sticker rating of 27.8 mpg in combined city/highway driving.

And the rest?: Kia: Hyundai's corporate affiliate, but marketed and operated separately in the U.S., reported record October sales.

Nissan North America: Sales of its Infiniti luxury division, which gets most vehicles from Japan, tumbled 13.5% in October. But the Nissan brand, mainly sourced from North America and less affected by the Japan tragedy, was up 22.1% and set an October record. Edmunds.com pointed out that Nissan "significantly outspends" its Japan-brand rivals on incentives.

The Nissan Versa small car, buoyed by a new design, also set an October record. As is the case with the Volkswagen Jetta, critics dislike the redesign, but actual buyers don't.

Rogue compact SUV was up 13.2%. Leaf battery car, not on sale a year ago, notched 849 sales in the month. Honda: Nearly flat sales at the Acura luxury brand and declines in Honda-brand car sales were balanced by truck-driven increases for the Honda brand to bring the overall October tally almost exactly even with a year ago.

Honda-brand stars: Refreshed Pilot big SUV, up 52.6%; CR-V compact SUV, soon to be replaced with a full redesign, was up 7.1%.

Toyota Motor: Combined sales of the Toyota and luxury Lexus brands tumbled 7.9% from the year-ago period.

The Lexus CT, a small hybrid hatchback that wasn't on sale a year ago, did well, as did the Toyota-brand Tacoma compact pickup and the Toyota Yaris small car.

Nothing else at Lexus or Toyota did, though the company is improving month-to-month, Edmunds.com notes, and the redesigned 2012 Camry seems off to a good start.

Camry is the best-selling Toyota and the best-selling car in the U.S. most months.