NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dataium, an aggregator of online automotive shopper behavior, reported yesterday that its shopper index for March showed no indications of the industry’s rebound stalling anytime soon.

After its Automotive Shopper Intensity Index correctly predicted a positive increase in March sales based on shopper behavior in February, Dataium said its March ASI reflects continued sales growth in April. If realized, the increase would mark the third straight month of growth for vehicle sales.

 “The first quarter's ASI rankings indicate that 2012 is shaping up to be the year of the fuel-efficient models,” said Eric Brown, CEO of Dataium. "The highest ranking models have tended to be those that offer some of the best fuel economy (highest mpg) in their respective classes.”

Toyota sped past the competition and secured the highest ASI ranking of all makes. Vehicle searches on the brand’s dealership websites rose 10 percent from the previous month. Ford also gained a spot to land at No. 2, while Chevrolet rounded out the Top 3.

Consistent with the ASI make ranking, both the Toyota Camry and Prius were the highest and second highest ranked new vehicles for the second straight month this year. Nissan's Altima, which saw its ASI rank fall last month, jumped a few spots in March to land at No. 3. Following close behind were three vehicles from Ford, the F-150, the Mustang and the Focus.

Through proprietary data collection and analytics, Dataium aggregates and measures billions of auto shopper behavioral events from a database of more than 100 million active auto shoppers across a network of diverse automotive websites. Dataium not only provides data and research on auto shopper/buyer behavior nationally, but by specific makes, models, vehicle segments, and markets, as well.

To view the report, click here.