October U.S. Auto Sales Plunge As GM, Ford Disappoint

Detroit, MI (AHN) - Sales for automobiles in October were weak across the board as all the big automakers reported large declines for the month. General Motors saw the largest pullback with sales down 45 percent.

The result was even worse than the grim outlook analysts had for GM sales to fall 37 percent for the month. GM blamed the credit crisis for the extreme drop in sales. Truck sales were the weakest performer for GM, down 51 percent from last year.

GM sold a total of 168,719 vehicles in October, down from 307,408 in the same month last year.

Ford Motor Corp. did not fare much better, reporting a decline of 30 percent. Truck sales were also off 30 percent while sales of its Lincoln brand dropped 27 percent. The company said that as bad as October was, it's probably not the bottom.

Toyota also reported a steep drop in U.S. sales, reporting a 23 percent decline in October. The company sold 152,101 vehicles for the month, which keeps it slightly behind GM for the U.S. sales title. Toyota's truck sales saw a big decline, off 35 percent.

Honda Motor Corp. posted a 25 percent decline in sales while Nissan Motors saw sales decline 33 percent in October.

Daimler reported a 24.5 percent decline with Mercedes sales off 34 percent.

High-end automobiles were not able to dodge the slowdown either. Porsche reported a 50 percent decline in October U.S. sales.