Projo Cars Blog

DETROIT -- Vehicle sales in the United States tumbled in October compared with a year ago, in a month filled with turmoil for the auto industry, as tightened credit markets and an economic slowdown kept consumers away from dealerships, according to The New York Times.

General Motors said Monday that its overall sales were down 45 percent in October from the month a year ago.

Cross-town rival, Ford said its sales fell 30.2 percent amid "an economic gauntlet, the likes of which haven't been seen in more than two decades." And sales at Toyota declined 23 percent.

The pain was spread among all types of vehicles. At Ford, sales of trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers down 28 percent, while car sales declined 27 percent. At Toyota, light truck sales fell 34 percent and autos fell 15 percent.

Another carmaker, Volkswagen, reported that its sales declined 7.9 percent in October.

Other automakers are scheduled to release sales results later Monday. Analysts estimated that total industry sales fell more than 30 percent compared with October a year ago, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 11 million vehicles.

 Tags  auto industry auto sales Ford General Motors Toyota Volkswagen

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