Southfield (WWJ)  -- Automakers and auto dealers will be glad to say goodbye to 2008, especially the last three months of the year.  Chrysler's December sales dropped 53 percent.   

WWJ autobeat reporter Jeff Gilbert reports sales figures from automakers Monday show 13.5 million cars and trucks were sold in 2008, the fewest since 1992.  Automakers say a reduction of credit availability and low consumer confidence contributed to the weak sales.

General Motors sales dropped 31% in December, compared to December 2007.  For the year, GM reported sales of 2.98 million vehicles or 22% of the market. 

"Given the ongoing challenges and the difficult market environment, we were very encouraged to see a volume rebound for GM in December compared with both October and November," said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing, in a statement.

The Chevy Malibu was a bright spot for GM.  Total sales of the Malibu were up 43 percent compared with last December.  For 2008, Malibu sales were up 39 percent.

Chrysler says its December U.S. sales plunged 53 percent, blaming a tough economy with driving customers from showrooms.
  
Chrysler sold a total of 89,813 vehicles compared with 191,423 in December 2007.  Despite the drop, the month's sales were up about 5 percent from November levels.

The Auburn Hills-based company said car sales tumbled 59 percent, while truck sales tumbled 51 percent. 

For the full year 2008, Chrysler said its sales slid 30 percent to 1.45 million vehicles.

Ford's U.S. sales declined 32 percent in December.

For the year, Ford's sales fell 21 percent compared with 2007, keeping the Dearborn automaker in third place in the U.S. auto sales race, falling behind Japan's Toyota for the second straight year.

"Volatility is the new norm," Mark Fields, Ford President of the Americas, told Gilbert. 

Fields wouldn't say the market has hit bottom.  "I hate to say bottomed out, because everytime we say bottomed out we find a new bottom, but I'm cautiously optimistic, but that's gonna depend on what happens with the economy," Fields said.

Ford said it sold 43,087 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars last month, down 26 percent from December 2007. The company sold 90,418 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury light trucks in December, 34 percent fewer than the same month a year earlier.
  
George Pipas, Ford's top sales analyst, predicted that passenger cars will outsell trucks in the U.S. this year for the first time since 2000 as consumers continue to be wary of high gasoline prices.

Ford said there was a glimmer of hope in its sales figures. Its market share was 14.6 percent, up 0.7 percentage point from December 2007 and the first time since 1997 that the company has seen its share go up three straight months.

The domestic automakers weren't the only ones to feel the pain of the financial crisis.  Toyota said its U.S. sales fell 37 percent last month. 

Toyota says its December sales dropped from 224,399 vehicles to under 142,000.  Volumes of the top-selling Camry fell 35 percent.  Prius hybrid sales plunged 45 percent.

Toyota says its 2008 sales fell from 2.6 million vehicles to 2.2 million.

The company has said it planned to post its first operating loss in 70 years. It also has suspended plans to start production at a factory in Mississippi.

Volkswagen of America says December U.S. sales of its namesake brand vehicles fell on steep drops in demand for nearly all of its models.  The German automaker says it sold 17,577 vehicles last month, down more than 14 percent from 20,543 it sold in December 2007.

Jetta sales fell a combined 9.8 percent to just over 8,000 units while Passat sales slid nearly 21 percent to 2,532.

Volkswagen's 2008 brand sales dropped to 223,128 vehicles from 230,572 in 2007.

Subaru of America was one automaker whose sales increased for the year.  Subaru's U.S. sales rose by 0.3 percent to 187,699 vehicles from 187,208 in 2007, as consumers snapped up its top-selling Forester and Impreza models.

Poor industry sales continue to mean good deals for consumers, though. Aaron Bragman, automotive marketing research analyst for IHS Global Insight in Troy, Mich., said large incentives such as zero percent financing and rebates will continue well into 2009 as automakers try everything they can to boost sales.

Full-size truck incentives ran from $7,000 to $8,000 in December, and Bragman expects that to continue all year as the economy fails to improve.

"You look in the paper and the deals on brand new GM pickups are astonishing,'' he said.  "The discount that you get buys a heck of a lot of gasoline."

One automaker, Hyundai Motor America, is trying to woo skittish buyers by promising to let them return cars free for up to a year if they lose their jobs and can't make the payments.

The "Hyundai Assurance Program" applies to customers stricken by misfortune outside of their control, such as losing their job, becoming disabled or losing their drivers license for medical reasons. It covers depreciation up to $7,500.

Similar bold moves might be necessary throughout the year.  Global Insight predicts that U.S. sales will drop from 13 million in 2008 to 10.3 million this year as the economy continues to sputter.

While that may bring deals for consumers, it's bad news for the automakers. General Motors and Chrysler were forced to go to the government for loans to hold off bankruptcy, and Ford says it may need government money if sales don't recover in 2009.

But Bragman said the sales drops are not unique to the U.S.-based automakers.

"This is a domestic market problem because we see the same kinds of declines at Toyota and Honda as we see at GM and Ford,'' he said.  "It's not a matter of getting financing. It's a matter of getting shoppers."

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