GM, the nation’s largest auto maker, said it sold 220,030 light vehicles in December, down 31% from a year earlier. Car sales dropped 25% while light-truck sales dropped 35%. There were 26 selling days in the month, the same as a year earlier.
And from later in the article….
Ford, the No. 3 U.S. auto maker by sales behind GM and Toyota, said it sold 138,325 light vehicles in December, down 32%.
Also from later in the article…..
At Toyota, December sales fell 37% to 141,949, the eighth-straight month of sales drops for the No. 2 seller in the U.S., which earlier had defied the negative sales trends that have slammed Detroit.
Toyota’s sales fell by more than GM or Ford in percentage terms? What a shocker.
Its probably a combination of the fact that Toyota sales started falling later and the fact that Toyota is more popular in the housing boom areas then GM and Ford were (Think Florida and California). Those who don’t like change will be comforted by the fact that nobody did worse in percentage terms than Chrysler. This from Market Watch….
Chrysler LLC said Monday that U.S. December sales fell 53% to 89,813 vehicles from 191,423 a year ago.
Tell me again how the government loaning money to the Auto makers is going to help them when consumers don’t have the money to buy cars. Especially when the loans to people looking buy cars are becoming more expensive. This from Felix Salmon…..
Yes, despite the falling interest rate environment, 95% of banks have increased the cost of their loans. Sounds like a credit crunch to me — and sounds, too, like the stated aim of the government buying equity stakes in banks simply isn’t working.