It wasn't just couples who were in a romantic mood in February – the auto industry got some love, too.

Most major analysts are predicting significant sales increases for the industry in February, as consumers helped automakers post some big gains. J.D. Power and Associates announced a forecast of 917,000 total units, or a 17.3 percent increase over February 2010. Edmunds was a bit more optimistic, with 937,000 units, or a 20.1 percent gain. Those figures also represent an improvement over January.

Both analysts acknowledged that the month started off slow, with J.D. Power attributing the sluggish sales to the fact that much of the country was pounded by snowstorms. Edmunds said that traffic began to pick up over President's Day weekend, however, as dealers held special sales to entice buyers.

Among automakers, GM is forecast to have the biggest gains by far. Edmunds pegged the company as posting a 37 percent increase year-on-year, with a 9 percent rise over January. Other major manufacturers expected to post above-average sales figures include Toyota (29 percent) and Nissan (27 percent).

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