The U.S. auto market is showing signs of thawing from a cold, stunted winter when sales were off by an estimated 100,000 units in January and February and the two-month seasonally adjusted annual rate dipped to about 15.2 million units.

Automakers reported 6 percent growth this week, with an estimated 1.5 million units sold in March, pushing the first-quarter seasonally adjusted annual rate to 15.7 million, according to market data provided by Autodata for the New York Times.

The market bounce was even better based on data supplied by WardsAuto.com, which reported overall sale surging to 16.33 million SAAR in March, well above the 15.3 million average a year ago and, according to the auto publication, the highest since February 2007's SAAR of 16.7 million.

General Motors, under heavy government scrutiny since a major recall, announced a 4 percent uptick in sales, with 256,047 vehicles sold, the New York Time reported, with the Chevrolet nameplate claiming 70 percent of that.

Chrysler, Ford, Toyota and Nissan all posted rises in year-over-year sales, with increases of 13 percent for Chrysler, 5 percent for Toyota, 8 percent for Nissan and 3 percent for Ford respectively.

"We now can confirm cold weather was the primary factor holding back car sales at the start at the year," Karl Brauer, a senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, told the Times.

On a positive note, Chrysler's double-digit growth was due in large part to the continued strength of the Jeep brand, which accounted for 30 percent of the carmaker's total vehicles sold.

Meanwhile, Japanese automotive brands are notching considerable gains with Hispanics, according to a new report from Spanish-language media company Univision, which explains Toyota, Nissan and Honda are at this point doing the best job reaching out to Latino consumers.

Hispanic sales are, in fact, driving 20 percent to 30 percent of total sales for each of the three carmakers, the analysis has found.

Latinos, said the study, are 29 percent more likely than non-Hispanics to choose Honda, Toyota or Nissan first. Put another way, Toyota, Nissan and Honda vehicles are 15 percent more likely to be the first sales choice for Hispanics.

Jack Randall, Univision SVP of business development, told Marketing Daily the three Japanese brands are benefiting from a strong legacy with Latino buyers -- from their vehicles appealing to the image and personality characteristics preferred by Hispanic consumers and from the Japanese brands being dominant on the West Coast, especially in Latino-dense markets.

As far as advertising dollars, Randall indicates Ford and Toyota spend the most in Spanish language ads, followed by Chevy, Honda, Nissan.

"They are actively communicating with Hispanic consumers with consistency, and culturally relevant in-language messaging," Randall said.