Automaker Sales Fall Steeply as Slump Lingers

Major automakers' U.S. sales fell sharply in February, a sign that the new car market could hit the lowest point in more than 27 years as huge rebates and low-interest financing fail to spur fearful consumers to make a major purchase.

2009 Nissan Maxima. Nissan reported a 37 percent drop in February sales.

General Motors reported a bigger-than-expected 53 percent drop in February U.S. sales on Tuesday and announced a steep reduction in targeted second-quarter production compared with a year ago.

CNBC adjusts auto sales for the number of selling days in the month compared with a year earlier. February 2008 had 25 sales days, versus 24 last month.

GM said it planned to produce 550,000 vehicles in North America in the second quarter, down by a third from 834,000 vehicles a year earlier.

GM , which has requested up to $30 billion of government loans to survive the industry downturn, said it estimated that overall U.S. light vehicle sales for the month of February fell to near 8.9 million units on an annualized basis. That would represent the worst monthly result since 1981.

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GM's U.S. sales totaled 127,296 vehicles in February, down 52.9 percent from 270,423 units a year earlier. Car sales were down 50 percent while truck sales were off 55 percent.

GM said it had 781,000 vehicles in U.S. dealer inventory at the end of February.

Meanwhile, sales at Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford fell 46.3 percent on an adjusted basis to 99,060 cars and trucks.

Ford said it planned to produce 425,000 vehicles in North America in the second quarter, down 38 percent from 685,000 vehicles a year earlier.

Ford is the only U.S. automaker that has not arranged government funding to survive and has said it has enough cash to ride out the downturn.

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Ford posted a 55 percent decline in sales for its Volvo brand, which it is reviewing for a potential sale. Sales in its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands fell 48.2 percent to 96,044 units in February from a year earlier.

SUV sales fell 71.4 percent, truck and van sales 54 percent, car sales 40.8 percent and crossover sales 35 percent, it said.

Ford said it had 405,000 vehicles in inventory at the end of February.

Privately held Chrysler saw its adjusted sales plunge 41.7 percent to a total of 84,050 cars and trucks, down from 150,093 last year.

Separately, Chrysler said on Tuesday that its proposed alliance talks with Fiat had commenced to the point where it would start making decisions on models and launch dates.

Toyota was also hit by the effects of a deep recession and limited consumer credit. The Japanese automaker's U.S. sales fell 37.3 percent on an adjusted basis to a total of 109, 583 vehicles.

Sales of Toyota cars dropped 36.3 percent last month to 64,956 units, while truck sales plunged 44.4 percent to 44,627.

Nissan Motor, meanwhile, said U.S. sales fell 37 percent in February versus year earlier, to 54,249 vehicles. Car sales were down 26 percent, while truck sales plummeted 51 percent.

Nissan said its U.S. dealer inventory was down 27 percent to about 151,000 units at end of February.

Nissan said the U.S. climate remains "pretty uniformly bad," citing a lack of consumer confidence as the biggest issue impairing sales.

Honda Motor's sales of cars and light trucks in the United States fell 35.4 percent on an adjusted basis, to 71,575 vehicles.

CONTINUED : HINTS OF A TURNAROUND?

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