GM, Ford See Monthly Sales Slide

U.S. auto sales failed to gain traction in April, with top three sellers General Motors GM, Ford F and Toyota TM each reporting declines for the month.

GM, the nation's No. 1 auto seller, said Thursday that its April light-vehicle sales dropped 22.7% from a year earlier to 260,922. There were 26 selling days last month, compared with 24 a year earlier. On a non-adjusted basis, retail sales were down 11.5% and total sales for the month fell 16%.

GM reported a first-quarter loss of $3.25 billion Wednesday, although the automaker exceeded estimates on an adjusted basis.

Ford said its April U.S. sales fell 12.2% from the prior year to 200,727 vehicles, although those figures were not adjusted to reflect two more selling days in April 2008. Sales for sport utility vehicles were 36% lower than a year ago, and truck sales declined 19%. Ford said that higher gas prices are accelerating the industrywide shift from trucks and traditional sport utility vehicles to cars and crossovers.

Toyota - which has been racing past Ford to become the No. 2 auto seller in the nation -- reported that its sales rose 3% to 217,730 vehicles from last year, although sales were down 4.5% when adjusted for the two fewer selling days.

Analysts expected auto sales declines to worsen in April considering the continued problems in the housing and credit markets. Sales weakness at a typically strong performer like Toyota, however, is indicative of a decline in U.S. consumer spending, particularly foor big-ticket items such as automobiles.