Toyota Motor Sales was – as usual – solidly in first place among Japanese companies with 124,540 vehicles sold, followed by Honda at 83,000, and Nissan North America just behind at 79,313 units.

Toyota was therefore once again Number Three overall in U.S. sales having displaced Chrysler Group last fall as Toyota, Lexus and Scion inventories rebuilt post natural disasters. Worth watching during Q1 is Toyota, which was a mere 12,000 vehicles behind Number Two Ford Motor. Toyota truck production in the U.S. – the last to recover from last year’s natural disasters – still has not caught up with demand. When it does – and Toyota’s pickup truck plant in Texas has been working overtime since late last year – Toyota could easily surpass an under-performing Ford in U.S. sales.

In another cut with a Samurai’s sword, Toyota’s luxury division, Lexus, with sales of 12,274 vehicles easily outsold Ford’s moribund Lincoln, which posted 5221 in sales, as Lincoln increasing looks like a hobby not a business. Lexus production too is still recovering from the Japan earthquake, so Ford is facing challenges on two fronts.