Sales of new vehicles rose 1.5 percent in February from a year earlier to 362,830 units, the first two consecutive year-on-year monthly increases since the April 1997 consumption tax hike, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Wednesday.

By category, passenger cars with an engine capacity larger than 2,000cc rose 12.3 percent to 67,267 units, up for the fifth consecutive month due to increased sales of expensive cars and an additional business day in the leap-year month, association officials said.

But sales of small passenger cars with an engine capacity between 661cc and 2,000cc dropped 2.6 percent to 200,401 cars, down for the 13th consecutive month, according to the association.

Sales of small trucks, including multipurpose vehicles and sports utility cars increased 4.2 percent to 87,622 units, up for the second consecutive month, although trucks with load capacity of more than 3.4 tons decreased 8.5 percent to 6,089 units, the lowest sales figure for February, they said.

Bus sales rose 26 percent to 1,451 units, up for the forth consecutive month, the association said.

By maker, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., Mazda Motor Corp., Nissan Diesel Motor Co., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. posted increased sales.

Officials, however, said new car sales in March and April should be watched to determine whether the trend is really upward.