SANTA MONICA, Calif.--According to Edmunds.com's True Cost of Incentives report, the Big Three's combined spending on incentives was up 1.7 percent in February to $3,409 per vehicle sold in the United States, compared to $3,354 in January. Japanese, European and Korean automakers spent $881, $1,596 and $1,686 per vehicle, respectively.

Among all the manufacturers, Chrysler was the biggest spender on incentives--$3,857 per vehicle--while adding 0.45 percent of market share.

The average incentive was $2,459 per vehicle sold in the United States in February, up $94 or 4 percent from January and up $324 or 15.2 percent from February 2003.

Edmunds.com reported that, among brands, Mini spent almost nothing on incentives, Scion spent $66 per vehicle and Lexus spent $159. Oldsmobile again spent the most per vehicle, $5,191, with Lincoln and Mercury coming in second and third at $4,540 and $4,314.

Among vehicle segments, large cars had the overall highest incentives at $3,881, then SUVs at $3,224 and minivans at $3,220. Luxury SUVs, luxury sports cars and sports cars had the lowest incentives at $1,227, $1,855 and $1,884, respectively.

Average days-to-turn--the time it takes to sell vehicles after they arrive at dealerships--was 69 in February compared to 64 in both January 2004 and February 2003. Isuzu took the longest to sell at 144 days-to-turn, followed by Mitsubishi at 121. The Scion and Mini had the shortest days-to-turn at 13 and 23, respectively.

The True Cost of Incentives report looks at all manufacturers' U.S. incentives programs, including subsidized interest rates, lease programs and cash rebates to consumers and dealers. Edmunds.com bases its calculations on sales volume and proportion of vehicles for which each type of incentive was used.