MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Car sales in US crash: worst September since 1993

United States car sales fell sharply in September, in the latest sign that the continuing problems in the financial sector are starting to hit the general economy.

Led by a 37% decline at Nissan, all the main companies saw sales fall in September compared with the same month a year earlier. Sales declined by 34% at Ford, 33% at Chrysler, 32% at Toyota and 24% at Honda during the month. General Motors faired slightly better. Its sales fell 16% after it cut prices. Overall industry-wide car sales declined 26%, making it the worst month in fifteen years. Analysts blamed the downturn to the turmoil in the financial sector. "Once they officially announced the sky was going to fall, that sort of froze everybody," said Mike Jackson, the chief executive officer of AutoNation Inc., which owns 317 dealerships in 15 states and is the top seller of Detroit's brands. "Things were not good to begin with" he said after the results were announced. "But the credit crisis exploded exponentially in September. ... The banks are looking for any excuse to say, 'No.' " CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore., which studies traffic in showrooms, said the last 10 days of September was the worst showing since CNW began keeping track in 1986. "Blowout sales aren't working," Art Spinella, president of CNW, said in a Wednesday note that revealed his findings. "It's tough to sell anything." In all, US consumers bought just 964,873 cars and trucks last month, a drop of 26.6% from the same month a year ago. Monthly auto sales usually break the million mark, and September's dismal result was the worst sales month on record since 1993, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, N.J. Only General Motors Corp. managed to post a better-than-industry performance. Its sales fell just 15.6%, allowing GM to capture an impressive 29% of the market last month. "GM performed extremely well in tough market conditions," Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of North American sales, service and marketing, said during a conference call with journalists. "You have to remember these numbers are relative. These numbers, a few years ago, I would have jumped out the window with these numbers -- and we're on the 39th floor here" at the Renaissance Center in Detroit. GM achieved most of that performance by selling large numbers of cars and trucks into the fleet market, where automakers sell vehicles in bulk at discount to rental-car companies and other businesses. GM's retail sales were down 26% despite a nationwide employee-pricing promotion.