The year started on a positive note for most of the automakers including America’s Big Three. Almost all the US automakers posted positive sales increases for the month of January. General Motors reported a sales growth increase of almost 6 percent mainly driven by strong car sales. GM sold 296,300 cars and trucks in January; car sales were up 15 percent while truck sales were flat from last year.

Meanwhile, Ford Motors posted a positive sales record of 2.7 percent in January mainly due to the strong performance of its new midsize sedans. Sales of Ford’s three new sedans introduced last year: Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr, jumped 25 percent in January. Truck sales fell by 7 percent, however; dragged down by the 30 percent decline in sales of the Ford Excursion SUV.

Chrysler is also off to a good start this year with a US sales increase of 5 percent or 155,465 vehicles. This is fueled by the strong sales performances of the Chrysler 300 and PT Cruiser. The Jeep brand also had its share of good news with an 8 percent sales growth. Chrysler continued to dominate the minivan segment with the Dodge Caravan posting an increase of 18 percent or 16,273 units compared to last year’s 13,797. Chrysler is geared to launch 10 new models this year.

These bright sales reports are a spot of optimism after a barrage of bad news from GM and Ford. The two largest automakers have already set plans for shutting down plants and laying-off workers in the next few years to regain profit in the North American market.

However, these figures were dwarfed by the continued double-digit growth of most Asian automakers. Toyota Motors reported a January sales increase of 14 percent driven by high demand for the Prius hybrid and positive growth for the Scion brand. Toyota’s truck and SUV sales were also up by 13 percent.

Things were much rosier at Honda, which reported a 20.7 percent increase in sales for January. This is the automakers eighth consecutive record-breaking month. Honda car sales zoomed by almost 25 percent pushed by strong sales of the 2006 Honda Civic. Honda’s truck and SUV vehicle sales were also up 15 percent with the Honda Pilot SUV leading the pack of bestsellers.

Not all automakers, though, had a strong January sales performance. Nissan Motors’ overall sales were unchanged from last year. The automaker posted a small increase in car sales but suffered a 4 percent setback in truck and SUV sales.