While sales in June fell by 33% for General Motors, and 42% for Chrysler, Ford Motor Company announced that its sales were only down 11% from June, 2008. Ford also outsold Toyota and is regaining market share for the third consecutive month, and is discounting its vehicles less than General Motors and Chrysler. Ford also stated that slow demand in the West and Southwest where the housing market has taken the worst beating, has dragged down the company’s overall sales, while sales in more than half of the remaining states were on a par or slightly greater than last year’s. Further adding to General Motors and Chrysler’s woes were that plant closings sharply reduced sales to car rental companies and other business customers. On the bright side, however, their bankruptcies have not deterred sales to consumers as much as was expected
Asian automakers have also felt the impact of the economic slowdown with declines in sales of 32% for Toyota and 23% for Nissan. Overall automotive sales in the United States fell by 28% compared to June 2008, which though still a decline is the smallest decline since September of last year. Average annual sales throughout the United States for the last decade were about 17 million units but took a nosedive starting the second half of 2008. Thus far in 2009 slightly under 5 million vehicles have been sold, a decrease of approximately 37%.
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