Car sales can be a fickle weather vane for the U.S. economy and even G.M. chairman Rick Wagoner reported yesterday that things weren't as bad as "many doomsday people are thinking." Still , vehicle sales dropped by 10 percent in one month. Only Honda saw a tiny a gain in the number of vehicles it moved.
Perhaps a better indicator of the country's economic mood is how tastes in vehicles are shifting. With oil hitting a record high yesterday of $102.45 a barrel, it's no surprise that the Chevrolet Silverado saw its sales drop by 27.9% from the previous year. Likewise the Dodge Ram took it on the nose with a decline of 24%. Ford's F Series trucks held up a little better, falling only by about 9%.
Not surprisingly, the winners in these days of home foreclosures and $50 fill-ups are compacts and subcompacts. But what do you make of this: The sales gain leader for this year is the sexy and exciting Chevrolet Cobalt, which jumped nearly 50%. The biggest loser? Toyota's Corolla fell by 28.1%. Recession or not? Perhaps we should wait until the primaries are over before we decide.
Sources: New York Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal
Photo: GM
