The month is about to reach its end and in the auto industry, that means, automakers will soon be reporting their sales for February.  Before we actually see how many vehicles automakers sold this month, Edmunds is giving us an idea with their forecast for this month.

According to the guys and gals at Edmunds, they are expecting sales to be down compared to February of last year but better than last month.  The forecast mentioned that the incentives offered by automakers are getting good results as dealership traffic is yet to really slow down.

Jesse Toprak, Executive Director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds said:  "Despite the decline in new vehicle sales, the automotive industry seems to be stronger than some were expecting so far this year.  Automakers continue to be proactive in their marketing programs and incentive spending to keep showroom traffic from slowing down during these times of adverse economic news."

As can be expected, the Big Three are forecasted to report lowered sales compared to February of 2007.  On the other hand, the three biggest Japanese automakers, Toyota, Honda and Nissan will post increased sales. Toyota will be leading the way with a 3.5 percent increase followed by Honda at 3.1 and Nissan with 1 percent improvement.

Michelle Krebs, Senior Editor of Edmunds' AutoObserver added:  "After months of inconsistent ups and downs for the automakers, we are now back to an old theme; domestic market share fell while the major Japanese players enjoyed gains.  Chrysler, Ford and GM must continue to work hard at raising awareness of their vehicles and closing the gap in quality perceptions versus realities."

Since Edmunds is getting their information from dealerships, it is safe to say that these predictions are very near the actual figure that automakers will be reporting soon.