In a report released late last week that spotted strengthening retail new-vehicle sales trends, Dataium’s January Automotive Shopper Intensity Index pointed to a slightly positive increase in February.

After adjusting for the number of selling days, Dataium saw a 5-percent year-over-year increase and a 3-percent rise for total retail sales.

Analysts, who believe their index is predictive indicator of retail sales, surmised February’s ASI score conveys the possibility for “a much better March as we enter the spring selling months.”

For the second month in a row, Dataium discovered that Japanese manufacturer Nissan received the highest ASI ranking of all brands.

Analysts determined Nissan vehicle searches increased slightly from the previous month, moving up 9 percent.

Ranking second was fellow Japanese automaker Toyota, whose searches rose 4 percent from January. 

Closing out the top three highest ranked makes was domestic OEM Ford.

“On the contrary, luxury manufacturers took another hit in February, with a number of them including Lincoln, Jaguar, and Lexus performing at the bottom of the ASI make rankings,” analysts pointed out.

In terms of models, the latest index showed the Toyota Camry jumping two spots from last month to be the highest ranked new vehicle.

Dataium said the Nissan Altima — last month’s highest ranked new vehicle — fell to the No. 3 position with a hybrid, the Toyota Prius, placing second. 

In addition, analysts mentioned the Ford F-150 outpaced last month’s third-place finisher, the Chevrolet Silverado, and was the only truck to be ranked in the top five.

A combination of rising gas prices and the release of the new wagon helped vault the Toyota Prius to the No. 2 position in February, Dataium chief executive officer Eric Brown explained.

“Interestingly, this trend mimics the auto shopping behavior that we reported last year when Toyota released the redesigned Camry,” Brown pointed out.

Dataium also shared a chart connecting is ASI index and the seasonally adjusted annual rate for new-vehicle sales. It can be viewed here.