Auto sales hit new lows

BREE FOWLER
Associatxed Press
December 3, 2008

General Motors’ November U.S. sales plunged 41 percent, while Ford’s dropped 31 percent, dashing hopes that the industrywide drop in vehicle demand might be easing as Detroit’s automakers prepare to state their second case for a federal bailout.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Their overseas rivals posted abismal results as well. Toyota’s November sales tumbled 34 percent, and Honda’s fell 32 percent.

A dreary economy, swooning consumer confidence and tight credit markets have combined to keep consumers out of vehicle showrooms this year. On Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research said the U.S. entered a recession in December 2007, much earlier than most predictions.

October’s seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 10.6 million vehicles was worst in more than 25 years and far below the rate of 16 million a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp.

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This article was posted: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at 1:04 pm

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