Auto Sales Collapsing
November 4th, 2008Via: Bloomberg:
U.S. auto sales plummeted 32 percent in October to the lowest monthly total since January 1991, led by General Motors Corp.’s 45 percent slide, as reduced access to loans and a weaker economy kept consumers off dealer lots.
Ford Motor Co. reported a 30 percent drop in car and light- truck sales from a year earlier and Toyota Motor Corp.’s declined 23 percent. Honda Motor Co.’s slid 25 percent, Nissan Motor Co.’s were down 33 percent and Chrysler LLC’s fell 35 percent.
“If you adjust for population growth, it’s the worst sales month in the post-World War II era” for the industry, said Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s chief sales analyst, on a conference call. “Clearly we’re in a dire situation.”
Industrywide U.S. auto sales fell for the 12th straight month, extending the longest slide in 17 years. Tight credit, falling consumer confidence and the weakening economy, the same forces that suppressed buying in September, hurt automakers again last month.
October total sales dropped to 838,156 from 1.23 million, according to Autodata Corp. The last time light-vehicle sales were lower was 822,200 in January 1991, according to Autodata.
The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for the month was 10.6 million, the lowest since February 1983, the Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based provider of industry statistics said in a statement. The October 2007 rate was 16 million, Autodata said.
“People are feeling a hell of a lot less flush than they’ve felt in the better part of a generation,” said Joe Phillippi, an analyst at AutoTrends Consulting in Short Hills, New Jersey. “Everybody is taking it on the chin right now.”
The financial crisis has dented stock markets worldwide, and a $700 billion U.S. financial aid package hasn’t yet spurred renewed lending.
Not for the Chinese they aren’t.
Also looks like they cut GM out of the loop.
This
$9500 “truck” is legal to drive here in SD
Moniker of the brand was Tatanaka or something
similar.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=104835#3