By V. Phani Kumar

Asian automobile shares jumped Monday, ignoring concerns that September sales in the U.S. could fall after the government's "cash for clunkers" incentive program ends later in the day, as analysts expect a cyclical recovery in American sales in the months ahead.

"We look for [U.S.] auto sales to improve from doomsday to normal recessionary levels," Morgan Stanley analyst Noriaki Hirakata wrote in a report released Monday.

Hirakata said reasons for the slump in U.S. sales over the last several months -- including soaring gas prices, less funding by financiers affiliated with auto makers, and the impact on new car sales due to lower used-car prices -- were "normalizing."

Shares of auto makers rebounded strongly after dropping Friday on concerns an early end to the U.S. government's "cash for clunkers" incentive program would hurt the recovery in industry sales.

In Tokyo morning trading Monday, shares of Honda Motor Co. (HMC) jumped 3.2%, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) climbed 3%, Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) added 2.1%, and Mazda Motor Corp. (MZDAY) advanced 2.7%.

Shares of South Korean auto makers stretched their recent winning streak in Seoul trading, with Hyundai Motor Co. (HYMTF) spiking 5.3%, while Kia Motors Corp. (KIMTF) inched up 0.3%.

In wider market action, Japan's Nikkei 225 Average ended the morning session up 3.1% at 10,557.33, and South Korea's Kospi added 1.6% to 1,605.54. China's Shanghai Composite was flat in morning action, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 2%, Taiwan's Taiex rose 2%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 2.5%, and Singapore's Straits Times Index rallied 1.9%.

The U.S. government said it will stop offering rebates under the "cash for clunkers" initiative at 8 p.m. Monday. The government program was offering vouchers of up to $4,500 to consumers who trade in their gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient cars.

Toyota's Corolla was the top selling model under the incentive program, with Honda's Civic and Ford Motor Co.'s (F) Focus ranked second- and third-best-selling under the program, according to data released Friday.

Goldman Sachs analysts Kota Yuzawa and Yuichiro Isayama said although U.S. sales may be "bumpy" in the next few months, the extent of the drop in U.S. sales at the end of the clunkers program will likely be smaller than in some of the other markets which have had similar programs, such as Japan and Germany.

They noted that the U.S. government's program of $3 billion went into a market with annual sales of 10 million vehicles. On the other hand, Germany's program, worth about $7 billion, was for a market with annual sales of 3 million units, while Japan's program of near $3.9 billion catered to a market with 5 million units in yearly sales.

"We think U.S. auto sales are moving into cyclical recovery," they said. Furthermore, "overdependence on government support is clearly not sound, so the U.S. government's decision could even by positive for a cyclical sales recovery."