Volkswagen. Audi. Mazda. What do these three models have in common? While Detroit news is all about American car companies stuck in trade negotiations, cutting jobs, and deleting models from their lineups, Volkswagen and their subsidiary, Audi, have both posted improved United States sales through the month of October.

In a statement released yesterday (November 1st) Volkswagen announced that their US sales rose 8.3% in October (representing 17,260 vehicles) especially due to their Jetta, Eos and Rabbit models, despite lowered demand for their mid-sized Passat sedan and a drop of 21% in sales of the Touareg.

Meanwhile, Audi is reporting a rise of 15.4% in their US sale in October, which represents 7,241 vehicles sold. They cited improvements in the New York, Miami, and Los Angeles markets of up to 24% as contributing to their numbers.

Unlike Audi, which is showing a gain of 10% over the entire year, Volkswagen's sales are still down 2.9% from their projections.

Meanwhile, Tokyo-based Mazda Motor Corp has raised it's North American sales forecast for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2008, expecting a total of 4,000 more units than their initial projection of 403,000 vehicles, made in April, 20007.

Mazda's North American sales expanded by 8.2% during the July-September quarter, they said, attributing the change to their Mazda 3 car and their CX-7 and CX-9 crossovers.