From Automotive News:

JANUARY U.S. AUTO SALES
Ford, GM drop more than 40% as industry nears 27-year low


Chrissie Thompson


Ford Motor Co. and General Motors said sales plunged more than 40 percent in January, putting the industry on pace for its worst month since August 1982.
Ford's 41.6 percent fall and GM's 49 percent drop were steeper than analysts' forecasts. Honda, Nissan and Toyota posted declines ranging from 27.9 percent to 31.7 percent, cementing the industry's fourth straight monthly slide of more than 30 percent.
Ford sales analyst George Pipas projected industrywide sales for the month would fall below 10 million on an annual selling rate basis. That would be below analysts' average projection of a 10.3 million rate and the lowest in almost 27 years.
"The biggest reasons for the decline in the sales rate was the fleet market," Pipas said. "We estimate the industry fleet sales were down 65 or more percent from a year ago."
Ford said its sales to individual customers fell 27 percent, while its fleet sales plunged 65 percent. The fleet figure includes a 90 percent drop in sales to rental companies.
VW down, Subaru up
The Volkswagen brand was down 11.7 percent, while Daimler AG said sales of its Mercedes-Benz and Smart vehicles slipped 35.5 percent. Subaru, the only automaker to post an increase in U.S. sales last year, was up 8 percent.
Ford is trying to continue operations without federal aid, despite burning through $5.5 billion in cash last quarter. Last week the automaker said it finished the year with cash reserves of $13.4 billion and will tap $10.1 billion in credit lines. Ford needs at least $10 billion in cash to operate, analysts say.
GM and Chrysler LLC, which reports sales later today, are preparing viability plans for the U.S. Treasury Department to preserve the $13.4 billion in federal loans they have already received.
Analysts had expected the biggest Japanese automakers to report less severe declines than the Detroit 3 as the industry looks to recover from its worst U.S. sales year since 1992. Last year's light-vehicle sales dropped to 13.2 million, as soaring fuel prices in the first part of the year and a global credit crunch later in the year deepened a national recession. In 2007, 16.1 million light vehicles were sold in the United States.
Most analysts say sales levels will be suppressed through the first half of 2009 at least.
Falling production
Last week, Pipas said January production levels in North America that were two-thirds lower than last year's might trigger an industrywide 60 percent decline in fleet sales compared with January 2008. The retail rate for January would be in line with recent months, Pipas and GM both predicted -- about 8.3 million units.
January fleet sales fell partly because of U.S. automakers' extended plant shutdowns after the year-end holidays, analysts say. In addition, some corporations took advantage of GM's December fleet incentives. December fleet deals helped GM unload about 300,000 more vehicles than Deutsche Bank's Rod Lache expected, the analyst said in a note to investors.
The industry started 2009 with a 94-day supply of vehicles, more than 50 percent above the level recommended by analysts.