With two less selling days, rising gasoline prices and poor auto demand, April contributed overwhelming decline in sales. Indeed, the previous month was not a good month for the auto industry.

The Toyota Motor Corp., again, took third in sales in the United States, outpacing DaimlerChrysler AG. The General Motors Corp. and the Ford Motor Co. landed on the first and second spots. Ford eked out the second spot with 213,657 total units as compared to Toyota's 210,457 units. Toyota experienced a decline of 4.3 percent over last April. Year-to-date, however, the automaker is up 6.7 percent. Toyota's divisions consist of Scion and Lexus reached 7,960 and 25,995 sales, respectively.

The Honda Motor Co., Ltd. trailed Daimler with 126,419 units and the Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. followed with 71,124. Honda's sales in the United States declined 9.1 percent in April for a total of 126,419 units. Truck sales for the group rose 5.6 percent to 55,300 units. Year-to-date sales for American Honda totaled 480,627 units, up 1.6 percent at the end of April.

The Honda division reached sales of 111,226 units and that number is down by 7.1 percent over last April's record-breaking sales. Honda division year-to-date sales were up 3.4 percent for a total of 421,773 units.

American Honda Executive Vice President Dick Colliver said that small cars and crossovers like the Fit, Civic and the CR-V performed well amid rising concern over the price of gasoline. Fit sales set a new April record with 3,958 units, up 13.1 percent. The all-new CR-V had its fifth consecutive record sales month, with sales totaling 17,379 units - a figure up by 39.4 percent. Civic sales increased one percent to 29,155 units.

Sales of Acura brand vehicles plummeted 21.6 percent in April for a total of 15,193 units. Year-to-date sales for the luxury brand reached 58,854 units, down 9.5 percent.

The Nissan North America, Inc., in April saw group sales of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles decreased 18 percent to a total of 71,124 units. Year-to-date NNA group sales on par with the previous year's figures at 350,105 units. Nissan division sales took a hit last month, plummeting 20.7 percent for a total of 61,179 units.

Infiniti division sales increased 3.4 percent over April 2006 on the sale of 9,945 units. Car sales for Infiniti were up six percent for a total of 7,548 units. For the year, the luxury brand is up 9.5 percent with a total of 42,490 units. The rise in sales is significantly boosted by the all-new G35 sedan with 4,491 units sold, up 58.6 percent over last April sales of the previous model.

But April was not that morbid at all. A number of luxury brands showed marked gains in April. The sales performance seemed protected by Covercraft. Audi's sales increased 9.4 percent; Infiniti rose 3.4 percent; Lexus was up 5.3 percent; Mini crept 2.1 percent; and, Land Rover was elevated 12.7 percent. In the ultra luxury segment Ferrari was up 80 percent; Maserati rose 33.7 percent; and, Bentley crept 4.5 percent. And Mitsubishi rose 11.1 percent with 12,047 units.

Audi sales, on the other hand, increased 9.4 percent over the same month last year for a total of 8,106 units, reaching a record for the month of April and etching the automaker's sixth consecutive monthly all-time record. Year-to-date sales for Audi rose 15.2 percent over the same period in 2006. The A4 Cabriolet model line had the biggest increase in April at 25.9 percent. A4 sales led the way contributing 3,906 units in April. A6 combined sales reached 823 units.

In April, MINI's sales reached 3,382 units, an increase of 2.1 percent over last April. Year-to-date, MINI sales are off 10.5 percent for a total of 11,455 units.

Sales of the Maserati luxury sports cars realized noteworthy gains in the first quarter of this year, increasing 14 percent over 2006, a record year for the automaker. Last month, the Italian brand reached 242 units sold, topping the previous sales record of 235, set in July of 2005. It is when the automaker jumped over 90 percent in volume.

Sales of the Quattroporte remain strong with the DuoSelect Maserati Quattroporte commanding over 50 percent of total Quattroporte sales. The Italian brand will launch the two-door Maserati GranTurismo in the fourth quarter of this year.