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In Depth: Surprising Auto Sales Figures

It's not all gloom and doom for automakers. Amid news that auto sales in the U.S. have fallen to their lowest annual rate since December 1981 and lag 39.4% behind year-to-date sales at this point last year, some models are bucking the trend.

Fifteen cars from 10 automakers saw their sales hold steady or increase last month, when compared to year-over-year data from February 2008. Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche (other-otc: PSEPF.PK - news - people ) were the big movers, each with multiple models that gained ground.

The bad news, however, is that only two models from domestic automakers made the list: the Saturn Astra, which saw sales increase 30.3% over last year, and the Mercury Sable, with an increase of 35.5%. General Motors recently announced plans to halt production on all Saturn models and phase the brand out of existence by 2011.

Total sales by Detroit's Big Three are down 48.5% this year to date compared to last year. European brands were down almost half that.

Behind the Numbers
To find the cars that came through with recent sales success, we used February 2009 numbers from Autodata, a research firm in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. The numbers tally total U.S. sales for all brands on a year-over-year rate. Percentages are based on actual sales each month, and were not adjusted for more or less selling days per month.

Despite the gains, individual models don't reflect the industry at large; most of the cars with the strongest gains come from brands that lost ground last month. Audi's A5 and S5 coupes, for instance, gained 28.6% in sales from February 2008, but the brand declined 24.4% in overall sales. Models like the A3 (down 51.6% in February), A6 (down 47.5% in February) and A8 (down 67.5% in February) did more than their part to drag Audi down.

Similarly, the Nissan 350Z's 33% gain couldn't fully mitigate the brand's 37.1% loss compared to February 2008. All told, only Kia (0.4%), Smart (28.5%) and Subaru (1.4%) posted overall gains last month over February 2008.

Sign of the Times
Even models with only slightly decreased sales are cause for celebration in the grim economic climate. The Mercedes-Benz SLR Class is one such example: By merely maintaining its sales from month to month, it made our list of the best performers.

Some of the vehicles with the largest gains on our list got ahead because of product launches that had only just started in February 2008. Models like the redesigned Porsche Boxster had time to reach more robust sales figures by this year; it had practically nowhere to go but up.

A Perfect Storm for Sales
Other vehicles, like Hyundai's Accent and Elantra, benefited from several factors: the widely publicized win of the underdog Hyundai Genesis as North American Car of the Year at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show; Hyundai's unprecedented "Assurance" program, which allows new-car buyers to return their vehicle if they lose their job; and aggressive marketing through the month of February.

Hyundai commercials during two high-profile events, the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards, contributed to the increase in sales, says Chris Hosford, a spokesman for Hyundai. The shows tend to skew to male and female audiences, respectively, Hosford says, which presented a desirable balance in Hyundai's advertising budget.

"We feel that both of them are must-watch TV, and it's the kind of thing that people tend to watch live as opposed to Tivo, and therefore they tend to see the advertising to a greater extent than they might otherwise," Hosford says. "And then also they just have great numbers."

Affordable Luxury
Porsche, meanwhile, credited its higher sales numbers to mechanical updates on its most popular model--the Porsche 911 Carrera/GT3 gained 17.8% over February 2008--and to an "affordability campaign." The message: Owning or leasing a Boxster (up 127.4%) or Cayman (up 0.4%) may be less expensive than drivers assume.

"We're very hopeful that we've gained some traction," says Tony Fouldapour, a spokesman for Porsche. "We're optimistic because of the new models we have; we're able to offer something a little bit different to the consumer in the showroom. So we would hope that that momentum would continue, but it's very hard to predict."

Momentum was certainly a factor with the anomalies on our list. BMW's M3 Convertible, with its 999.9% increase, reflects nascent pre-sales that hadn't gained full traction in the marketplace last February.

"We really didn't get into the market until May [last year], so we're looking at probably another two months where you're going to see very little sales the previous year," says Tom Plucinsky, a spokesperson for BMW. "April, May and June are the hot months for convertibles."

That said, automakers have been hesitant to predict whether the positive sales for these particular models will continue. Most say they are simply focused on enjoying the gains while they last.