Auto Sales Plunge

usatoday.com — Fearful consumers avoided auto dealerships in October, sending U.S. sales to their lowest levels in more than 25 years. Industry sales plummeted 31.9% from a year ago, according to industry tracking firm Autodata. Automakers sold just 838,156 new vehicles in October, the second consecutive month below 1 million. Until then, monthly sales had been more than 1 million since February 1993. General Motors (GM) says that, adjusted for population growth, U.S. sales were as low last month as they were just after World War II. Without government intervention, GM doesn't see a rebound. "Bottom line, there really needs to be action (to loosen credit) to allow our country to pull out of this very, very bleak period," said Mike DiGiovanni, GM's chief forecaster.

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