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Nissan reported Tuesday that its April sales were up 23 percent over last year.

The company, which has a facility in Canton, sold 87,847 units for the month, up from 71,329 in April 2012.

A 24.6 percent sales jump in the Nissan division was spurred by the Altima (built in Canton), Pathfinder, Sentra (also built in Canton) and the Rogue compact SUV. Sales of the Altima in April were up 35 percent. Sentra sales jumped 44.9 percent.

“In the first quarter of 2013, we improved our retail sales by more than 4 percent while reducing deliveries to fleet customers by more than 17 percent,” said Jose Munoz, Nissan Americas senior vice president for sales and marketing. “We continued this trend in April with retail up 29 percent and fleet mix down over four percentage points from one year ago, which proves that our new products such as Altima, Sentra and Pathfinder are taking strong hold in the marketplace. We expect to have gained market share in April due to our strong retail performance, which we have full intention to continue through the summer months given the building momentum that we are seeing with Altima, Sentra and Pathfinder in particular.”

The news wasn’t as good for Toyota, which builds the compact Corolla sedan in Blue Springs.

Overall Toyota Motor Sales dipped 5 percent. The Toyota Division’s sales fell 5.4 percent over April 2012 on one more selling day.

It was the first month in several the automaker did not report monthly sales had risen year-over-year. March sales rose 4.8 percent. February sales were up 8.7 percent; January sales increased 21 percent.

“From an industry standpoint, continued retail sales growth indicates the underlying strength of the market, which is a great sign for the months ahead, especially with new products, low interest rates and plenty of pent up demand,” said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of Toyota Division.  “Toyota’s two newest models – Avalon and RAV4 – continued to attract customers with double digit gains in April.”

Toyota president Akio Toyoda will unveil a new production initiative Friday morning in New York.

Details of Toyoda’s announcement are scarce. It’s unknown if it will have any bearing on the Toyota plant in Blue Springs, which has been making the Corolla compact sedan since November 2011.

There have been faint rumors of another model being added to the Blue Springs line since then, but company officials have dismissed those, for the most part. Toyota, going back to the original Blue Springs announcement in early 2007, has built a reputation as being really good at keeping major announcements under wraps until the company is ready to make them.

It’s likely whatever production move the company announces Friday will have to do with one of the company’s North American facilities. North American region CEO Jim Lentz will appear with Toyoda.

If Blue Springs is on tomorrow’s agenda, it’s conceivable that a related supplier will locate in West Point, about 60 miles of four-lane highway from the Blue Springs.

The Clarion-Ledger reported Wednesday that Gov. Phil Bryant will call a special session April 29 for lawmakers to consider incentives for an economic development project. The newspaper reported the project is an auto supplier in West Point.

Toyoda will make the announcement at 8:30. A live stream can be found at www.toyotanewsroom.com.

UPDATE: Reuters is reporting that Toyota’s facility in Kentucky will begin making the Lexus ES sedan in 2015. The state gave the company $146 million in incentives to land the deal.

Toyota and Nissan were among automotive manufacturers to issue a huge recall of vehicles Thursday for potentially faulty passenger-side airbag systems.

The airbags were made by Takata Corp. in Japan. The carmakers said the systems were assembled with improperly manufactured wafers that could cause the airbags to deploy abnormally in the event of a crash. As many as 3 million vehicles in North America and Japan could fall under the recall.

The Toyota vehicles recalled include the Corolla, but only models made from 2001-2003, well before the company’s plant in Blue Springs started producing the compact sedan in November 2011.

The Nissan recalls include vehicles made from 2001-2003 in Japan, a spokesperson said in an email Thursday morning to the Mississippi Business Journal. Canton’s Nissan facility opened in May 2003.

The recall also affected Honda vehicles. The manufacturers will notify owners within 30 days if their vehicle qualifies for a front passenger airbag inflator replacement. Replacement will be free.

“Nissan is committed to a high level of customer safety, service and satisfaction and is working with its dealers to promptly address this issue,” the company said in a press release.

Toyota-related information can be found at www.toyota.com/recall and www.lexus.com/recall or by calling 1 800-331-4331 (Toyota) and 1 800-255-3987 (Lexus).

Toyota’s sales numbers for March represented a 4.8 percent increase over March 2012 on a daily selling rate basis.

The company sold 205,342 units in March. Total sales were up 1 percent on one fewer selling day.

For the first quarter, Toyota reported sales of 529,444 units, an increase of 10.1 percent over the same period in 2012 on a DSR basis on one fewer selling day. Total sales for the quarter were up 8.7 percent.

“The auto industry continued its string of impressive monthly results, and at Toyota we had our best month since Cash for Clunkers in August of 2009,” Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations, said in a company press release. “A strong first-quarter close and increased consumer confidence continue to position the auto industry as a leader in the economic recovery.”

The Toyota Division sold 182,152 units in March, up 3.1 percent year-over-year on a DSR basis.  Volume-wise, Toyota Division sales dropped 0.5 percent over March 2012.

Sales of the Corolla, made in Blue Springs, were up 11.1 percent, with 31,423 units sold. Sales across the automotive industry were up 6 percent for the quarter. Toyota revised its overall industry sales projections for 2013 up to 15.3 million units, and 2.2 million units as a company.

Toyota expects auto sales across all manufacturers to reach 15.3 million units in 2013.

That was one of the points Toyota Motor Sales senior vice president Bob Carter made Tuesday at the J.D. Power/National Automobile Dealers Association’s Automotive Forum.

That would represent an increase in total sales of about 4 percent over 2012.

Carter said the sales outlook for the next few years is even better, tracking toward 16 million units.

He said the growth is a symptom of what he called a continually improving economy. Carter cited lower unemployment rates, higher consumer confidence and stock prices and increases in manufacturing and construction.

“Last year, the economy grew on average about two-percent, and this year will probably be about the same,” said during his speech at the industry forum. “Fortunately, we believe the auto industry will grow even more than the economy in 2013.”

Total industry sales for the first two months of sales in 2013 are2.2 million units, almost 9 percent more than the same period last year, Carter said. Toyota’s three major brands – Toyota, Scion and Lexus — sold over 324,100 vehicles in that time, a 14.1 percent increase from a year ago, and nearly double the industry growth, Carter said.

“And we expect a lot of that growth to be in hybrids, small trucks and retail sales, areas of strength for Toyota,” Carter said. “So we believe we’re poised for another solid year.”

Several things will drive that, Carter said. Pent-up demand is one, with the average age of the U.S. auto fleet reaching a record high of 11 years old, according to industry figures. Historically low rates for car loans is another, Carter said.

“Younger buyers are returning to the market at a higher rate than any other age category, which bodes well for market longevity and for all of us,” he said.

Toyota Motor Sales USA reported an increase in sales over the prior year for February, though the jump wasn’t quite as big as the last two.

Total sales of Lexus, Toyota and Scion vehicles were 166,377 units in February, up 4.7 percent in volume and 8.7 percent on a daily selling rate from the same period last year. The increase was led by the full-size Avalon sedan (sales up 63 percent) and the crossover RAV 4, whose sales were up 5 percent and recorded its best February ever with 13,329 units sold. Sales of the Corolla, which is made in Blue Springs, increased 12.9 percent.

The modest jump comes after two straight reporting periods that saw increases of more than 20 percent. Overall sales in 2012 were up 26 percent over 2011. Sales for January 2013, which had one more selling day than the prior year, jumped 21.6 percent.

Toyota group vice president and general manager Bill Fay said in a press release that February’s numbers were especially gratifying, because the month had several roadblocks.

“Despite rising gas prices, severe winter storms and concerns about the federal budget, February was a good indication of the overall strength of the market,” Fay said. “With the most fuel efficient full line of vehicles, Toyota is well positioned and we’re encouraged by very positive consumer reaction to our new Avalon and RAV4.”

Attorney General Jim Hood announced Monday morning Mississippi was one of 29 states to settle with Toyota Motor Corp. related to unintended acceleration issues in some of the company’s vehicles.

Mississippi will receive $561,288 of the $29 million Toyota will pay to settle consumer protection claims. Toyota will also be banned from advertising safety features of its vehicles without what a press release from Hood’s office calls “sound engineering data to back such safety claims.”

Mississippi and the 28 other states claimed during the litigation that Toyota had engaged in unfair and deceptive practices when the company failed to timely disclose known safety defects with accelerator pedals.

“Our investigation led us to determine poor communication between Toyota’s nerve center in Japan and Toyota’s United States holdings were partially responsible for Toyota’s failure to report known safety issues in a timely manner,” Hood is quoted as saying in the release.

In addition, the settlement provides that Toyota is:

• Prohibited from reselling a vehicle it reacquired with alleged safety defects without informing the purchaser about the alleged defect(s) and certifying that the reacquired vehicle has been fixed

• Prohibited from misrepresenting the purpose of an inspection or repair when directing consumers to bring their vehicles to a dealer for inspection or repair

• Required to exclude from the “Toyota Certified Used Vehicles” or “Lexus Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles” categories any vehicle acquired through lemon law proceedings or voluntarily repurchased by Toyota to ensure customer satisfaction.

Consumers who have questions about restitution related to the settlement can call one of two hotlines Toyota has set up. For Toyota vehicles, call 800-331-4331. For Lexus vehicles, call 800-255-3987.

Lines are staffed from 8 a.m. CST to 8 p.m. CST Monday thru Friday, and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. CST to 6 p.m. CST.

Toyota settled late last year separate litigation related to the same issues. The company agreed to pay out $1.1 billion, and to set up a fund that would retrofit affected vehicles with technology to counter the unintended acceleration.

Toyota’s net revenues for the nine-month period that ended Dec. 31 were 16.2 trillion yen (about $174.8 billion).

That represented a 26 percent increase over the same period last fiscal year. The company announced the results Tuesday.

Operating income increased 117.1 billion yen ($1.3 billion), to 818.5 billion yen ($88.2 billion). Net income increased from 162.5 billion yen to 648.1 billion yen ($6.9 billion).

The company attributed the increase in operating income to successful marketing efforts that generated 660.0 billion yen ($7.1 billion) and reducing costs by 320 billion yen ($3.5 billion).

Consolidated vehicle sales for the nine months totaled 6.629 million units, an increase of 1.634 million units compared to the same period last year.

In Japan, vehicle sales totaled 1.668 million units, an increase of 310,564 units compared to the same period last fiscal year. In North America, vehicle sales totaled 1.865 million units, an increase of 596,587 units compared to the prior year.

Also on Tuesday, Toyota revised its consolidated vehicle sales forecast for fiscal year 2013 from 8.75 million units to 8.85 million units, an increase of 100,000 units from the previous forecast announced last November. The upward adjustment was attributed to an expected jump in North American sales.

The company also said it expects fiscal year 2013 consolidated net revenue to reach 21 trillion yen ($226.5 billion), operating income of 1.15 trillion yen ($10.8 billion), and net income of 860 billion yen ($9.3 billion).

“We believe that our efforts have been bearing fruit and that we are finally on the road to sustainable growth,” Toyota senior managing officer Takahiko Ijichi said in a company press release. “We will continue our efforts to build ever-better cars and to move forward in a steadfast manner.”

Toyota’s sales in 2012 were up 26 percent over 2011, and that trend continued the first month of 2013.

The company sold 157,725 units in January, an increase of 26.6 percent over the same period from last year.

That’s despite January 2012 having one more selling day than last month.

“The sales pace we saw in the fourth quarter of last year rolled into January, exceeding our expectations for the industry,” Bill Fay, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager of Toyota Motor Sales USA, said in a company press release.

The automotive industry as a whole had its best January since 2008. Sales growth spread across all manufacturers averaged 14 percent from last January. Toyota’s 26 percent increase nearly doubled that figure. Ford Motor Co.’s 22 percent increase was second best.

Sales of the Corolla, which is made in Blue Springs, were up 32 percent, with 23,822 units sold.

To see Toyota’s entire January sales chart, click here.

Toyota sold about 418,000 more vehicles in 2012 than it did in 2011.

The numbers came from Toyota’s year-end sales figures, which the company released Thursday afternoon. Total units sold for 2012 were 2,082,504, up from 1,644,661 in 2011. That represented an increase of 26.6 percent.

Sales across all auto companies were 14.5 million, the highest since 2007.

Sales of the Corolla, which is built in Blue Springs, were also up 21.1 percent this year over last. The Corolla was the compamy’s second most popular model as far as total units sold, behind the Camry. Sales of vehicles made in North America were up 28.4 percent. Selling days for each year were the same, at 307.

Click the link below for the entire chart.

Toyota 2012 sales