Auto Sales Drop in March

GM's light-vehicle sales fall 13% during the month.
By Robert Holmes ,

U.S. auto sales failed to gain traction in March, with top three sellers

General Motors

(GM) - Get Report

,

Ford

(F) - Get Report

and

Toyota

(TM) - Get Report

each reporting declines for the month.

GM said Tuesday that its light-vehicle sales dropped 13% in March to 282,732 vehicles from a year earlier. There were 26 selling days last month, compared with 24 a year earlier.

Ford said its March U.S. sales fell 14.1% to 226,522 vehicles from 263,684 the prior year. Car sales dropped 9.6% to 80,915 vehicles, while truck sales slid 16.4% to 145,607 vehicles. On a same-selling day basis, sales fell 7.5%.

Toyota -- which in recent months has been racing past Ford to become the No. 2 auto seller in the nation -- reported that its sales dropped to 217,730 vehicles from 242,675 in March 2007, a decline of 10.3%. When adjusted for the two fewer selling days, auto sales were down 3.4%.

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

Still, shares of the automakers followed the major averages higher. Ford recently was up 10 cents, or 1.8%, to $5.82. GM shares added 49 cents, or 2.6%, to $19.54. Toyota rose $2.21, or 2.2%, to $103.10.

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