According to a report by Edmunds.com, car sales for the month of March are moving briskly, thanks in part to new incentives offered by Toyota and General Motors.

For the first eight days of the month, the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales in the U.S. was 12.5 million units, representing the highest level since August 2009, when the federal "cash for clunkers" program energized the market.

Ray Zhou, a senior analyst for Edmunds.com said, "Generous incentives from GM and Toyota have stimulated this boom, but I anticipate that it will cool off and the month will end with a SAAR in the low 11 millions."

Toyota's incentive program came in response to the public relations nightmare the company has endured due to safety concerns and the recall of millions of vehicles for potential unplanned acceleration issues.

Toyota saw a sales drop of 9 percent in February and countered with a 0 percent financing program, subsidized lease rates, and a two-year free maintenance program for return customers effective March 1. To stay competitive, GM was forced to immediately match the offers.

With the help of the incentives, market share for the Toyota brands including Scion and Lexus jumped to 16.8 percent in early March over 12.8 percent for the same period in February.

Chevrolet's market share hit 12.9 percent for early March on similar customer inducements, up from the February level of 11.3 percent.