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SANTA MONICA, Calif. — With still more than a week left in the month, Edmunds.com analysts projected that March new-vehicle sales are currently pacing at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 13.2 million.

The site came to this figure because of the hefty incentives offered by Toyota and other automakers that came as the Japanese OEM tried to turn the negative tide of ongoing recalls

"The industry has been recharged by incentives offers from Toyota and other automakers," observed Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell.

"There is a lot of money in the marketplace right now, and people are responding," Caldwell continued.

Another of the site's senior analysts, Ray Zhou, shared more data about what Toyota's incentive offerings did to the company's sales prospects.

"Toyota's incentives announcement immediately generated nearly a 40-percent spike in that brand's purchase intent by visitors to Edmunds.com," Zhou noted.

"But Toyota's market share has dropped from its high point earlier this month because other automakers' incentives programs have been effective as well," he added.

Despite the SAAR projection of 13.2 million, Edmunds.com anticipates that vehicles sales for the latter portion of this month will weaken. Site chief executive officer Jeremy Anwyl wrapped up Edmunds.com's sales estimation with a warning.

"We shouldn't view this as a sign that the economy recovering," Anwyl contended.

"This sales bounce is driven by incentives," he went on to state. "Take away the incentives and the sales will slow dramatically."