US sales take a beating

As the Australian car industry scraped by with only a relatively small drop in annual car sales, it was a very different story in the United States of America. As recession gripped the country and fuel prices soared, car sales plummeted to their lowest mark in 16 years.

The impact was felt across the whole industry with the most pain reserved for the Big Three -- General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler LLC -- but even the traditionally strong Japanese brands Toyota and Honda took a hit.

Only Mini and Subaru managed to record an increase in numbers but the latter by a scant 0.3 per cent.

Studying the figures certainly doesn’t make for jolly reading.

Overall the market was down roughly three million units for the year.

GM sold 2.95 million cars in 2008 making it the worst year for sales since 1959. Sales were down 22.9 per cent for the year the company. Chrysler LLC was down 30 per cent for the year and Ford recorded a drop of 20.7 per cent.

Toyota and Honda recorded a full-year loss for the first time in over a decade while fellow Japanese brand Nissan was down 10.9 per cent. The Europeans didn’t escape either with BMW down 15.2 per cent, Mercedes-Benz 11.2 per cent and Audi 6.1 per cent. It was especially bad for the Swedish brands with Saab down 34.7 per cent and Volvo down 31.2 per cent.

But the biggest damage was recorded by GM brand Hummer with the off-roader division dropping a staggering 50.9 per cent over 2007 sales.

With GM and Chrysler still facing the prospect of bankruptcy after a last-minute federal government bail-out in December things certainly look bleak for the US auto industry. But there are still those trying to put a positive spin on things.

"Last year Chrysler and all of our stakeholders persevered through extraordinarily difficult economic conditions, made the necessary adjustments and always kept our focus on serving our customers," says Jim Press, President and Vice Chairman, Chrysler LLC.

"As a result, our company and our dealer network start this year stronger and better positioned to succeed in today's marketplace."

Despite the Big Three coming under criticism from some quarters for focusing on building pick-ups instead of smaller, more economical cars the Ford F-Series range remained the most popular model for the year followed by GM’s Chevrolet Silverado.

The big question that remains is just how long sales will remain so low or if indeed sales will reach the heights of pre-2008 again for the foreseeable future? In the short-term much of it depends on the state of GM, Chrysler and Ford and how much the government will support them. Major re-structuring is already underway for GM and Chrysler as part of the cash injection Washington gave the pair in December.

The one thing most analysts and industry insiders agree on is that it will get worse before it gets better. Not a good time for Detroit...

Top 10 selling models in 2008
1. Ford F-Series 515,513
2. Chevrolet Silverado 465,065
3. Toyota Camry 436,617
4. Honda Accord 372,789
5. Toyota Corolla 351,007
6. Honda Civic 339,289
7. Nissan Altima 269,668
8. Chevrolet Impala 265,840
9. Dodge Ram 245,840
10. Honda CR-V 197,279