January Auto Sales Were Down

January 2008 U.S. auto sales were down over January 2007, but not every automaker was recording a loss. Mercedes reported strong sales for the month, a boost of 7.1% to register their best January ever. GM’s sales also rose for the month, 2.8% on the strength of new vehicle introductions. For the industry as a whole a drop in sales of 4.3% was recorded.
So, January was a good month for GM and Mercedes-Benz.
Ford and Chrysler both saw sales drop with Chrysler reporting the biggest loss of 12.1% while Ford’s sales fell 3.9%. Hyundai registered a whopping 22.6% drop and BMW sales fell 22.2%.
Mazda recorded the largest increase of all automakers, reporting a 10.1% surge in sales. Even Toyota and Honda could not keep pace, with each company losing 2.3% for the past month.