Lexus remained the best-selling luxury brand for 2009.

The market’s two largest Japanese brands reported significant sales upturns to wrap up the final month of an otherwise dismal 2009.  But both Toyota and Honda couldn’t erase hefty double-digit declines for the year overall.

Overall sales for the month rose 32.3% for Toyota Motor Sales USA, while American Honda reported a December gain of 24.5%.  The figures reflect the generally positive trend for the final month of 2009, leading many analysts to predict that the new year will bring the beginning of a long, albeit slow recovery for an industry down more than 40% from its mid-decade peak of more than 17 million vehicles.

“Emerging from the rollercoaster of 2009, the industry has gained positive momentum for a gradual recovery,” said Toyota Senior Vice President Don Esmond.

Toyota’s mainstream brands drove the maker’s strong performance, last month, while its luxury line, Lexus, scored a more modest increase of just 13.5% for December, and it remained the U.S. market’s number one luxury brand for all of 2009.  But Honda’s high-line brand, Acura, remained in the deficit column, with an 8.1% decline for the month.

This has been a tough recession for luxury makers, who often seem immune to economic downturns.  Analysts suggest this reflects the beating that Wall Street has taken and the unusual cuts in bonuses and pay for many in the nation’s top managerial class.

For 2009 as a whole, Toyota reported a 20.2% sales decline, with total volumes of 1.770 million.  Honda slipped 19.5%, to 1.151 million cars, trucks and crossovers for the year.

“The good news is that the market appears to be stabilizing and have more reasons for optimism in 2010,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. “There seems to be light at the of the tunnel; let’s hope it’s not another train coming, but rather brighter days ahead.”

Meanwhile, Japan’s second-largest maker – which is the third-largest, by sales, in the U.S. – also posted mixed results.  Nissan scored an 18.2% sales increase in December, but for the year overall, it was down 19.1%.

Both Toyota and Nissan showed weakness on the truck side of their ledgers, their Tundra and Titan pickups, respectively, failing to make any real inroads against the well-established models from the Detroit Three.