GM, Chrysler lead horrific month as October sales plunge

Falling gas prices and rising inventories weren't enough to offset a tight credit market, leading to another awful month of sales for all automakers.

On average, October sales were down 32 percent from a year ago, with General Motors hit the hardest. Not only did GM's HUMMER brand lead the industry with sales off by 64 percent, but the rest of the GM portfolio followed closely behind.

Cadillac and Saturn sales fell about 55 percent, GMC trucks were down 52 percent, followed by Pontiac, Buick and Chevrolet, which were all down by at least 40 percent.

The decline is largely due to tighter lending policies adopted by GMAC Auto Finance. With GM's in-house lending unit refusing loans to buyers with credit scores below 700, a large percentage of prospective customers were unable to qualify for a loan.

Possibly the worst month since World War II
"If you adjust for population growth, this is probably the worst industry sales month in the post-WWII era," said Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for sales and marketing, speaking with Automotive News. "Until the credit markets open up and consumer confidence improves, the entire U.S. economy, and any industry like autos that relies on financing, will suffer."

To spur sales, GM said today it will start its annual Red Tag Sale early this year. The event - which normally runs from Thanksgiving weekend to January 5, will instead start tomorrow, with some GM vehicles carrying up to $7,250 in cash incentives.

Chrysler sales fell 50 percent, trailed by Jeep and Dodge, down 32 and 27 percent respectively. Ford sales were off 28 percent from a year ago.

So far only two automakers have reported monthly sales increases this year: Toyota in April and GM in January. This month, Toyota's decline was lead by its Lexus unit, down 35 percent. The Toyota brand retained its position as the nation's best-selling brand, ahead of Ford and Chevrolet.

MINI posts gain, Audi bucks the downward spiral
Among the few to post gains were BMW's MINI brand, up 56 percent. Audi, whose sales were up by less than one percent were weighed by parent company Volkswagen AG, whose sales fell by nearly 8 percent.

"This is the toughest economy we've seen in a long time," Mark Barnes, COO of VW Group of America, said in a statement.
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[Photo: Flickr.com; Original by Broken Wing Productions. Post-processing by David Moll.]