NASHVILLE, Tenn. -

Strong incentives have helped lift Korean automakers over Toyota on Dataium’s monthly Automotive Shopper Intensity index, breaking the Camry’s winning ASI streak.

Released on Wednesday, the Dataium index shows that strong incentives and marketing campaigns promoting fuel efficiency helped Hyundai’s Sonata and Elantra claim the top two spots in the index to rank highest in ASI for new vehicles.

Following closely was fellow Korean carmaker Kia; its Sorento and Optima ranked third and fifth, respectively.

A predictive indicator of automotive retail sales, overall the index demonstrated a nearly 20 percent uptick in ASI numbers that began the second week in June and was reflected in June’s sales numbers, Dataium reported, which the company said points to July as a solid month for OEMs.

Corporate leasing continued to be a large part of the retail seasonally adjusted annualized rate in June, helping new-vehicle sales to sustain a 10-percent increase over 2011 levels. Incentives, meanwhile, were up nearly 10 percent from last year to boost the summer buying season.

Dataium also noted that July could be the start of a turnaround for luxury makes, as its index showed BMW and Lexus ranking first and second in ASI for all makes.

Inventory searches and leads for BMW grew 14 percent and 9 percent respectively from May, while leads on Lexus dealer websites grew almost 60 percent, Dataium said.

However, Dataium chief executive officer Eric Brown said movement in the index has been up and down, indicating a conflicted consumer mindset.

“We are seeing erratic movement in the ASI from month to month, which is compounded by a lengthening of the buying cycle,” said Brown. “These behavioral swings seem to indicate the consumer is struggling with making large purchase decisions amidst economic, political and employment uncertainty.”

The national Dataium report is available for download at http://www.dataium.com/library.