Honda surprises with gain in resurgent U.S.

Honda Motor Co. ended eight months of shrinking U.S. sales with an unexpected January gain as recovering auto demand also buoyed growth for Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co.

Honda on Wednesday posted an 8.8 percent increase from a year earlier, compared with an average estimate of a 1.2 percent drop in a Bloomberg survey of six analysts. Sales rose 7.5 percent at Toyota, Asia's largest automaker; 10 percent at Nissan; and 15 percent at Hyundai. Japanese and South Korean brands gained 13 percent, topping the industry's 11 percent, Autodata Corp. said.

"Finally, Honda is getting back on its feet again," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, an automotive pricing and data company in Santa Monica, California.