DETROIT – U.S. auto sales are off to a strong start this year, continuing their brisk pace from late 2011.

Chrysler had its best January in four years while Toyota got a boost from its new Camry. Volkswagen, which wants to aggressively expand in the U.S., reported much higher sales. One sour note was GM, where sales fell compared to a strong January a year earlier.

When final figures are released late Wednesday, analysts expect industrywide sales to rise around 7 percent to more than 870,000 for January, kicking off what is expected to be the strongest year for the industry since the recession.

Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends for TrueCar.com, said demand is growing as the economy improves.

“For the first time in several years, we are starting the year off with a warm and fuzzy feeling,” Toprak said.

January’s sales pace was expected to be about the same as December’s, a relief for the industry after a bumpy 2011. Sales started at a healthy pace last year but plummeted after the Japanese earthquakes affected vehicle supplies.

The pace of sales didn’t really recover until the last four months of 2011.

For all of 2012, auto sales could reach close to 14 million new vehicles, analysts say, up from 12.8 million in 2011. While that forecast is below the 2000 peak of 17.3 million, it’s better than the 10.4 million trough in 2009.

Unseasonably warm weather may have drawn buyers to dealerships, although Ford’s U.S. sales chief Ken Czubay said that the weather effect was probably a wash.

Frigid weather can also boost sales because older cars may not start during a cold snap, he said.