General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and DaimlerChrysler AG reported unexpected increases in American sales in January, while Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company continued to post gains.

GM, the world’s biggest automaker, said its American sales rose 5.8% to 296,003. Ford’s sales gained 2%, and DaimlerChrysler’s sales of Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz vehicles were up 4.8%. Toyota, no. 2 in the world behind GM, had a 14% gain for the month, and Honda Motor Co. rose 21 percent. Nissan Motor Co. fell 0.9%.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler were expected to sell fewer vehicles in January than they did year earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The gains by Toyota and Honda were bigger than forecast.

“This is definitely stronger than we expected,” a forecaster for Lexington, Massachusetts-based Global Insight Incorporated, Rebecca Lindland, said, who predicted a decline in Ford and GM sales for January. “Maybe consumers feel like it’s a good time to buy since interest rates are only going to get higher.”

Consumer confidence in America rose in January to the highest level since June 2002 as more people said jobs were plentiful than anytime since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Conference Board in New York yesterday said that its measure of optimism increased to 106.3 during the month from 103.8 in December. The gauge, for the first time, surpassed the level posted before the Gulf Coast hurricanes in August.

January sales for Chrysler, no. 3 in American sales, increased 5% from a year earlier to 155,465, its Stuttgart, Germany-based parent said in a statement. Sales of Mercedes-Benz vehicles rose 3% to 12,469.

Ford’s sales had a “heavy fleet component,” a company sales analyst, George Pipas, said in a conference call. Sales to rental car companies and other large-scale purchasers are generally less profitable than sales to individual buyers.

Ford’s sales of passenger cars rose 18% to 82,710, the Dearborn, Michigan, company said in a statement. The increase was led by the Fusion sedan, introduced in October.

Sales of the Mustang sports car rose 9%, and sales of the Taurus sedan, which is sold mostly to rental car companies, increased 0.8%.

Ford truck sales fell 6.6% to 122,961. Included in the decline was a 23% decrease in Explorer mid-size sport-utility vehicles and a 30% fall for Expedition large SUVs. One exception was FSeries pickups, which were up 7% to 52,771. The F-Series is the largest-selling line of vehicles in America. The company had lost sales for four straight months through December.

GM, the world’s largest automaker, last month said it will use fewer discounts, instead relying on price cuts averaging $1,300 on about 80% of its cars and trucks. The company lost $5.6 billion in North America last year.

Ford said on January 23 that it would reduce sticker prices on most 2006 models while capping rebates. The company had a $1.6 billion pretax North American loss for 2005.

In January, GM’s incentives averaged $3,849 a vehicle, a decline of 23% from a year earlier, the president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Oregon, Art Spinella, said. He said the figure is based on data through January 29.

Ford’s average discount was $4,117, a 17% drop, and Chrysler’s was $3,607, an 18% decrease, Mr. Spinella said.