By Ben
Klayman
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales fell 34.4
percent in April as the industry held near the
lowest levels in nearly 30 years and closed out the
month with Chrysler LLC filing for bankruptcy
protection.
The talk of bankruptcy surrounding Chrysler and
General Motors Corp, which faces similar pressures,
only spooked consumers last month and led to
weaker-than-expected industry results, executives
and analysts said.
"Clearly, the uncertainty, the bankruptcy
talk, has really affected the entire industry,"
GM chief sales analyst Mike DiGiovanni said on a
conference call, adding retail sales had hit a wall
in the last week of April.
U.S. auto sales came in at a 9.32 million
seasonally adjusted annual rate in April, according
to Autodata Corp, below the 9.8 million rate that
analysts had expected. The annualized rate of U.S.
auto sales is a closely watched indicator of
economic activity.
That marked the 18th consecutive month of
year-over-year declining sales and a drop from 9.86
million in March.
However, executives at several automakers also
pointed to signs of stability in the market.
"While April sales weren't much to call home
about, there are signs that the sales contraction is
nearing its end," said Bob Carter, general
manager of Toyota Motor Corp's flagship brand in the
United States.
Others called talk of a recovery wishful
thinking.
"I don't think it's anything that can be
characterized as a recovery until a bit down the
road," Frost & Sullivan auto analyst
Stephen Spivey said. "The people I've talked to
really aren't looking for a rebound until next
year."
WEAK SALES
Chrysler, which shut down production on Friday as
it began the first day of bankruptcy hearings,
posted a 48 percent drop in sales, the largest among
the major automakers in the U.S. market, followed by
Toyota and Nissan Motor Co Ltd with declines of 42
and 38 percent, respectively.
Sales at U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co slid almost
32 percent last month, while sales at GM, which like
Chrysler has been operating under federal
supervision, fell 34 percent.
Honda Motor Co Ltd's sales were off 25 percent.
"Wow, what a month in the last couple of
days in the automobile business," Ken Czubay,
Ford vice president of sales and marketing, said on
a conference call. "Clearly, we continue to
operate in a very challenging economic
environment."
Ford officials said the U.S. economy appears to
be reaching a bottom, citing rising consumer
confidence [ID:nN01402214]. They expect a recovery
in the second half of the year. Continued...
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