The Big Three American automakers and their Asian competitors had far different U.S. sales in August, but there was a common theme -- the

foreign companies, like the domestics, used heavy incentives to lure buyers onto the lots, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press.

Toyota Motor Corp., which outsold DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group in the United States for the first time in August, raised incentives 73 percent from a year ago, Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Rod Lache said in a Sept. 8 report. Even compared with July's heavy spending, Toyota and Honda Motor Co. beefed up incentives 12 percent as they, like the rest of the industry, tried to sell off remaining 2003 models, the Free Press said.

A Merrill Lynch report says incentives among Asian automakers, led by Toyota, rose 33 percent in August from a year ago. The result:

Asian brands saw sales rise 8 percent in August, while General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler had an overall drop of 6 percent.

While Asian brands increased incentives recently, their average spending per vehicle still falls well behind GM, Ford and Chrysler,. according to the Free Press. At the American automakers, the average outlay in August was about $4,000 a vehicle; the average among Asian brands was $1,474.

U.S. market share for GM, Ford and Chrysler fell to an all-time monthly low of 57.9 percent in August. In the first eight months of the year, the domestics' total U.S. market share was 60.1 percent, down from nearly 62 percent a

year ago. At the same time, Asian brands increased their U.S. share from 31.3 percent to nearly 33 percent. European companies are up to 7 percent of the U.S. market from 6.8 percent a year ago, according to the Free Press.