NASHVILLE, Tenn. -

Late last week, Dataium released its latest Auto Shopper Intensity index  — a measure of online car-shopping activity designed to project sales 30 to 45 days in advance — and found the brand leading the pack was Nissan, which was joined in joined in the top five ASI rankings by two of its Japanese peers.

Specifically, there was a 33-percent month-over-month hike in searches for Nissan, whose inventory views showed a 19-percent hike. Toyota ranked second and posted a 21-percent increase in searches. Its inventory views were up 11 percent.

Honda placed fifth of the list, with Ford and Chevrolet taking the Nos. 3 and 4 spots, respectively.

Nissan also took the top spot in the individual model rankings, as the Altima’s ASI score was higher than any other vehicle last month. The Toyota Camry placed second, and the Chevrolet Silverado was No. 3.

Overall, though consumer car-shopping activity took a dip in January, improving fleet and lease markets indicate that February will be static or slightly improved, according to Dataium.

Specifically, Dataium noted that its ASI index had a 3-percent drop in consumer data for January, but stressed that “increases in fleet sales and leasing suggest flat to slightly positive month-over-month trends in February.”

While the three aforementioned Japanese mainstream brands led the way in January, several luxury brands were on the opposite end of the spectrum. This includes brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Acura.

The latter, for instance, saw a 19-percent search decline and a 14-perecent decline in inventory views, as the brand dipped throughout nearly all of the ASI index indicators.

“The euphoria of the holiday shopping season seems to have worn off, resulting in lower intensity around the luxury brands,” explained Dataium chief executive officer Eric Brown “Not surprisingly, shoppers now have returned their focus to more popular and affordable models.”

Among individual models, the lowest ranked for ASI score was the Chevrolet Volt, officials noted.

“Even after rebounding from early issues, and garnering positive reviews and high ratings, Chevrolet’s hybrid, the Volt, fell short in January, and was ranked as the model with the lowest ASI score of all new vehicles,” they noted.