Auto sales at General Motor, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. plunged in October as the U.S. industry braced for what may be the weakest monthly sales report in a quarter century.
GM plummeted 45 percent from a year earlier. Ford sold 132,248 cars and trucks last month, down 32 percent. Toyota outsold Ford on its way to its 23 percent decline. Daimler AG and American Honda were down more than 24 percent, while Porsche, Isuzu, and Suzuki fell more than 45 percent.
The results reinforce the projections of analysts, who had said that the global credit crisis and plunging consumer confidence would contribute to the industry's 12th-straight monthly decline and the second-straight monthly year-to-year drop of more than 25 percent.
"If you adjust for population growth, this is probably the worst industry sales month in the post-WWII era," said Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for sales and marketing.
"Until the credit markets open up and consumer confidence improves, the entire U.S. economy, and any industry like autos that relies on financing, will suffer."
No hot segments
Ford sales analyst George Pipas had projected an industrywide October decline of 20 to 30 percent. He and some analysts also had forecast sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 11 million. That would be the lowest since March 1983, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
"When the industry is hovering around 11 million, there are no hot segments or hot products," Pipas said today. "These are very challenging times.''
U.S. auto sales averaged 16.8 million this decade through 2007.
Ford's U.S. brands -- Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury – fell 29.2 percent. Its Volvo unit plunged 52.1 percent. Ford's comparisons factor in 5,267 Jaguars and Land Rovers from October 2007; the U.K. brands are now owned by India's Tata Motors Ltd.
Lowest since March 1983
After nine months of this year, U.S. volume was off 12.8 percent from a year earlier. Of the four biggest automakers in the United States, only two had reported monthly sales increases: General Motors in January and Toyota in April. Ford's last increase was in November 2007.
Chrysler has posted one monthly gain under its current owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, in December. Analysts project it will report its third-straight monthly decline of more than 30 percent as Cerberus continues its effort to sell Chrysler.
Audi posts a gain
Volkswagen's Audi unit said it may be one of the few brands to have an increase for the month. It was up 0.3 percent. The VW brand dropped 7.9 percent.
"This is the toughest economy we've seen in a long time," Mark Barnes, COO of VW Group of America, said in a statement.
Jim Tidwell Ford in Atlanta sold 132 new and used vehicles in October, said Blake Dobbs, new-car sales manager. At the start of the year, the monthly average was about 250.
A 31 percent decline in average U.S. gasoline prices during the month helped trucks, he said. But one new Ford vehicle, the
Flex has been a disappointment, said Dobbs.
"We ordered a bunch to help Ford out, but the price point is too high,'' Dobbs said. "We only sold two in October.''
Ford's volume dropped 36 percent in September and Toyota was down 32 percent as the industry's sales totals fell below 1 million for the first time since February 1993.
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