U.S. auto sales likely fell for 12th month on crunch
U.S. auto sales probably fell for the 12th straight month in October, extending the longest slide in 17 years, as the credit freeze helped crush demand for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC vehicles.
Sales probably dropped at Asian automakers also, including Toyota Motor Corp., analysts said. Tight credit, falling consumer confidence and a weakening economy, the same forces that suppressed buying in September, slammed automakers this month as well.
"October had even more uncertainty," said Jesse Toprak, director of industry analysis for automotive research firm Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California.
The financial crisis has dented stock markets worldwide and a $700 billion U.S. financial assistance package hasn't yet spurred renewed lending. New vehicles probably sold at an annual rate of 11.5 million in October, down 28 percent from a year earlier, based on a Bloomberg News survey of 21 analysts and economists.
That estimate is in line with projections by auto executives. The annual rate for October probably will be 11 million to 12 million vehicles, Ford sales analyst George Pipas said Friday. He also predicted cars will outsell light trucks this year for the first time since 2000.
Troy Clarke, GM's president for North America, predicted a 12 million rate.
Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli, in an Oct. 16 interview with CNBC, said vehicles sold at a 12 million rate in the first half of the month. Lack of credit for customers "is the biggest challenge we face now," he said.
The auto companies report sales Nov. 3. GM, the biggest U.S. automaker, probably will say deliveries dropped 43 percent in October, while Chrysler may post a 38 percent decline, based on the average estimates of three analysts. Ford may report a 36 percent drop.
U.S. industry sales may have fallen 25 percent to 35 percent this month, Jim Farley, Ford's worldwide marketing chief, told reporters Thursday at a plant in Dearborn, Mich. He declined to comment on Ford's results.
A 12-month streak of declines in vehicle sales would be the longest such stretch since the 14 months that ran through December 1991, according to research firm Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.