U.S. Auto Sales Figures Continue to Lose Steam

U.S. sales of new passenger cars and light trucks fell sharply for a second straight month in October as manufacturers, facing a tough comparison with a record month last year and diminishing returns from incentives, joined in a downhill race.

As usual, foreign-based automakers fared somewhat better than their rivals in Detroit in the monthly results posted Friday. But sales dropped precipitously for just about everyone, amid growing concerns about the economy, joblessness and a possible war with Iraq.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the world’s two largest automakers, said their October sales plunged 32% and 34.9%, respectively.

The results, which exclude GM and Ford’s foreign auto brands, compared with a blowout month in October last year, when industrywide sales hit a record high.

Their Big Three rival Chrysler Group, an arm of DaimlerChrysler, said its October sales fell 31%.

Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest automaker, said its U.S. sales slumped 19.4% in October.

Among Japanese automakers, Honda Motor Co. held up the best, with an October sales decline of 5.8%. But Toyota Motor Corp. said its U.S. sales dropped 21%, and Nissan Motor Co. said sales at its core Nissan division in North America fell 12.6%.

The drop in sales at Nissan was partly the result of last month’s lockout of dockworkers on the West Coast, the company said.

But Bill Kirrane, regional director for the Nissan division in Carson, said declining sales were also caused by the recent fall in U.S. consumer confidence, which hit a nine-year low last month.

Automakers have been able to keep buyers streaming into showrooms by offering interest-free loans, cash rebates and other incentives.

Incentives declined in September, however, from a peak in July and August, when sales hit an annual rate of 18.7 million vehicles. That earlier burst may have pulled forward sales from September and October.