General Motors, Ford , Chrysler , Honda , Toyota , and Nissan — the five largest automakers doing business in America — all reported large sales declines for the month of October 2008, compared with October 2007. GM sales decline the most — 45 percent, while Chrysler fell 35 percent, Nissan 33 percent, Ford 32 percent, Honda 25.2 percent, and Toyota 23 percent.
GM’s sales fell from 307,408 units to 168,719. The Hummer brand was hit the hardest, dropping 64.6 percent. Cadillac declined 55.1 percent, Saturn 54.6 percent, GMC 52.5 percent, Pontiac 48.2 percent, Buick 46.3 percent, Chevrolet 40.3 percent, and Saab 13.2 percent.
The Chrysler brand was the worst performer at Chrysler LLC, declining a whopping 51 percent. Jeep fared slightly better, declining 33 percent, and Dodge posted the smallest decline, down 27 percent. Chrysler LLC’s overall sales were 94,530, down from 145,316.
The Ford Motor Company’s October sales totaled 132,838, down from 194,617. Of the domestic brands, Mercury reported the largest decline — down 47.5 percent. Ford and Lincoln brand sales fell 27.9 and 27.7 percent, respectively. Volvo sales were more than halved — down 52.1 percent.
Nissan North America’s 56,945 vehicle sales were down sharply from the 84,947 recorded in October 2007. The Infiniti division was off 28.6 percent, while the Nissan division was down 33.57 percent.
Honda reported 85,864 sales, compared to 114,799 in October of ’07. Honda Division posted October sales of 75,756, a decline of 28.4 percent versus October 2007. The Acura Division posted sales of 10,108, a decrease of 24.5 percent.
Toyota ’s Lexus division was hard hit, dropping 40.2 percent from October 2007. The Toyota division was off 24.21 percent, while Scion sales dropped 39 percent. In all, Toyota’s vehicle sales totaled 152,101, down from 197,592.
Other smaller automakers, like Volkswagen , fared better. VW’s sales declined just 5.3 percent to 23,478 units, while Subaru fell 13.8 percent to 12,917 vehicles. Mercedes-Benz was down 24.5 percent to 17,257 sales, Mazda dropped 25.9 percent to 16,442 units, and Hyundai dropped 34.5 percent to 36,303 units. Suzuki saw its sales drop 46.7 percent to 3,482 units.
