Retail sales for the Ford Focus were the highest for any month since August 2005 — with retail sales up 36 percent in March and 35 percent in the first quarter compared with the same periods a year ago.

The new Focus has helped Ford increase its share in the growing small car market and is attracting younger buyers. Compared with the previous model, buyers are equipping the Focus with more features, like SYNC, Ford’s exclusive, in-car connectivity technology that fully integrates most Bluetooth-enabled cell phones and MP3 players by voice activation.

Edge sales were also up impressively for the same quarter. Edge retail sales were up 35 percent in March and 52 percent in the first quarter, thanks in part to stronger sales on the coasts. The
California region accounted for more than 10 percent of Edge sales in the first quarter of 2008, versus 7 percent in the first quarter 2007. The company did even better on the West Coast.

Ford is attempting to restore themselves to profitability. Ford employs 250,000 people worldwide.

Tim Colbeck, vice president of sales for Subaru of America said, “Retail sales continue to be healthy for the brand in what is a tight market, and our dealers have increased sales each month this year. Impreza and Legacy sales were strong and we are excited about Forester as supplies of the 2009 model year reach dealerships.”

Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan and has headquarters in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Toyota Division passenger cars recorded March sales of 114,897 units, up 1.5 percent from last March. Passenger-car sales were led by Camry, which posted best-ever March sales of 40,487, an increase of 3.2 percent over the same period last year. Camry Hybrid reported sales of 6,930 units in March, up 45 percent over March 2007. The Prius hybrid gas-electric mid-size sedan posted best-ever March sales of 20,635, an increase of 16.0 percent from last March. Yaris reported all-time best-ever sales of 12,953 units, up 83.2 percent over the year-ago month.

Toyota Division light truck sales were down 8.8 percent, with March sales of 77,894 units. Light truck sales were led by the Tacoma mid-size pickup, reporting March sales of 15,587 units. The Tundra full-size pickup posted best-ever March sales of 14,311, an increase of 16.8 percent over last March. Highlander and Highlander Hybrid posted combined sales of 10,832 in March. The Highlander Hybrid gas-electric mid-size SUV reported sales of 2,239 units for the month. Sequoia posted sales of 2,856 units for the month, up 19.8 percent over the same period last year.

Most major auto manufacturers will be reporting sales in the coming weeks.

“We are very encouraged by our March results, especially considering the challenging market we are in,” said Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai Motor America’s vice president of national sales. “Our redesigned Sonata posted a solid seven percent increase over a year ago, while Accent, Elantra and Azera all saw double-digit growth compared with March of last year. We are cautiously optimistic and feel our brand is very well positioned to respond to the emerging spring selling season.”

Hyundai has been able to sell more units based on the strength of their Hyundai Advantage warranty plan.

The news means jobs for the Ann Arbor area..

Toyota already employs 35 researchers and staff that will comprise the new research institute, said Bruce Brownlee, senior executive administrator of external affairs for the technical center. Another 10 researchers will be hired this year and an additional 20 by 2010.

“Basically it will be collaborative research with partnerships in North America with universities and national labs,” Brownlee said. “The areas we are really working on are energy and the environment, mobility infrastructure … and safety.”

Toyota does not plan to add any additional facilities to its 100-acre, 500,000-square-foot campus in north Ann Arbor, Brownlee said.

The company is on track to employ 1,100 people in Ann Arbor by the end of 2008.