Auto sales plummet across the board

Big 3's domestic share for '08 may be less than 50%

Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all had US sales declines of 30-plus percent in December. For Toyota and Honda, the drops in full-year US sales were the first since 1995 and 1993, respectively. (Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press/File 2006)

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - General Motors Corp.'s US sales plunged to a 49-year low in 2008, dragged down by a 31 percent slide in December as demand was ravaged by the recession and by concern that the biggest domestic automaker might collapse.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s US deliveries plummeted 37 percent last month, while Honda Motor Co. slipped 35 percent, Ford Motor Co. fell 32 percent, and Nissan Motor Co. was down 31 percent, pointing toward the industry's worst annual volume since 1992. Chrysler LLC dived 53 percent.

The federal rescue of GM and Chrysler couldn't overcome buyer pessimism and tight credit in the world's biggest auto market. Ford's 2008 US sales sagged to a 47-year low, while GM's total of 2.95 million light vehicles was the least since 1959, according to trade publication Automotive News.

"It's one of the worst years ever, and this year will be worse," said Stephanie Brinley, an analyst at the consulting firm AutoPacific Inc., in Southfield, Mich. "It's not a gas problem. It's not a credit problem. It's a consumer confidence problem, and it's worldwide."

GM and Chrysler received commitments last month for as much as $17.4 billion in US loans, saying they would have run short of operating cash by this month.

GM's results last month beat the average estimate of a 41 percent drop among six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Tempering the decline was a 43 percent surge in deliveries of the Chevrolet Malibu sedan. Sales of GM's Saab brand, which the Detroit-based automaker says it may sell, fell 57 percent.

Thanks to bigger declines throughout 2008, the US automakers will likely mark the first calendar year when their combined market share was less than 50 percent, based on results through November, when they held 47 percent.

The drop in full-year US sales for Toyota and Honda were the first for the Japanese automakers since 1995 and 1993, respectively.

Toyota failed to get a boost from no-interest loans offered on most of its models since Oct. 2. Sales of its Prius hybrid, the best-selling gasoline-electric car in the United States, declined 45 percent. The Tundra full-size pickup dropped 52 percent, while Toyota's Lexus luxury brand finished the month down 32 percent.

Industrywide, US sales extended a streak of declines of at least 25 percent dating to September. Vehicle sales for the year likely will total slightly more than 13 million, based on estimates from a Bloomberg News survey of 22 analysts and economists.

While that annual total would be the lowest in 16 years, it does not reflect the steepening slide in US auto demand.

Last month's seasonally adjusted annual sales rate probably was 10 million, a 39 percent decline, based on the Bloomberg survey. The November rate was 10.2 million, and annual sales for all of 2007 were 16.1 million.

"We are at the bottom now," said Tom Libby, an automotive analyst at the consumer-research firm J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Mich. "People have just stopped buying, and I don't blame them. When you have such a decline in savings and net worth, it just doesn't surprise me sales have fallen so much."

Sales of Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Smart minicar fell 24 percent in December. Volkswagen AG was down 14 percent, while its Audi unit was off 9.3 percent. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's sales of BMW- and Mini-brand autos fell 36 percent.

US jobless rolls reached a 26-year high in the week ended Dec. 20, signaling a worsening labor market. That weakness adds to the strain on automakers after record fuel prices in 2008's first half damped demand for full-size pickups and sport-utility vehicles.