By Mike Ramsey and Alan Ohnsman
Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp.’s 2008 U.S. sales plunged to a 49-year low, dragged down by a 31 percent plunge in December as demand was ravaged by the recession and concern that the biggest domestic automaker might collapse.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s U.S. 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.
The federal rescue of GM and Chrysler LLC couldn’t overcome the weight of consumer pessimism and tight credit in the world’s biggest auto market. Ford’s annual U.S. sales sagged to a 47- year low, while GM’s total of 2.98 million was the least since 1959, according to trade publication Automotive News.
“If consumer confidence doesn’t snap back soon, it’s going to be difficult for the automakers,” said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst with IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. “It isn’t just GM, Ford, Chrysler that are suffering from this. It is the entire auto industry globally.”
GM and Chrysler received commitments last month for as much as $17.4 billion in U.S. loans, saying they would have run short of operating cash by this month. Chrysler sales probably fell 48 percent, based on the average of 6 analysts’ forecasts.
U.S. Market Share
Thanks to bigger declines throughout 2008, the U.S. automakers will likely mark the first calendar year where their combined market share was less than 50 percent, based on results through November, when they held 47 percent.
The drop in full-year U.S. sales for Toyota and Honda were the first for the Japanese automakers since 1995 and 1993, respectively.
Industrywide U.S. 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 doesn’t reflect the steepening slide in U.S. 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.
“Everyone is trying to figure out if we’ve hit bottom yet,” said Jesse Toprak, director of industry analysis for auto-research firm Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California. “We thought in October we had, then we thought in November we had, and now December will be worse.”
Weak Economy
U.S. jobless rolls reached a 26-year high in the week ended Dec. 20, signaling a worsening labor market as the economy heads into the second year of a recession. 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.
President-elect Barack Obama has made an economic stimulus package his top priority, and he told reporters today in Washington that the nation faces an “extraordinary challenge” in reviving growth.
“The sooner stimulus efforts find their way to where they’ll do the most good -- into the hands of consumers -- the sooner we’ll see a turnaround in confidence levels and a return of buyers to the marketplace,” Jim Lentz, president of Toyota’s U.S. sales unit, said in a statement today.
December’s plunge may have been tempered by the resumption of low-cost financing from GM last week, Edmunds.com said, citing a surge in vehicle inquiries on its site and dealer surveys.
Ford’s U.S. sales were “strong” in the last two weeks of December, Executive Vice President Mark Fields told reporters today in Dearborn.
GM, Chrysler Rescue
Consumer concern that Detroit-based GM and Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler would fail to get government aid and be forced into bankruptcy may have contributed to December’s slump, Patrick Archambault, a Goldman, Sachs & Co. analyst based in New York, said in a Dec. 28 research note.
President George W. Bush announced Dec. 19 that GM and Chrysler would get the emergency loans in exchange for restructuring their businesses. GM had said it might run out of operating funds by the end of 2008, while Chrysler had said it might fall short by the middle of this month.
Sales globally have begun to crumble as well. Auto sales in Japan dropped 5 percent in December and finished the year at a 28-year low as a recession there sapped demand for Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota and Nissan vehicles. French auto sales fell 16 percent in December
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