US Car Sales Sink in Slow Economy

GM, Ford, Chrysler, and Toyota saw sales fall last month
By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 3, 2008 9:45 PM CST
US Car Sales Sink in Slow Economy
An unsold 2008 Solara convertible sits outside a Toyota dealership in the southeast Denver suburb of Centennial, Colo., on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008. Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales slipped 3 percent in February as sales of its luxury sedans and sport utility vehicles plummeted. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)   (Associated Press)

A tumbling US economy hit Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and Toyota today as all four posted declining sales for last month, Bloomberg reports. Chrysler fell 14% as Ford dropped nearly 7% and GM suffered almost a 20% drop in light truck sales. "Primarily it's driven by the weak economy,'' one analyst said. "It's been difficult for people to refinance and get credit.''

Toyota, second in US car sales after GM, fell for the second consecutive month and sixth in eight. Honda, Nissan, Mercedes, and Volkswagon sales rose from last year, however, confirming predictions that foreign carmakers will suffer less than domestic ones. (More auto industry stories.)

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