U.S. car sales drop dramatically; Cobalt logs 55 percent decline

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The Vindicator/Geoffrey Hauschild The one millionth chevy colbalt produced by the Lordstown auto plant signed by President Obama at the Lordstown Auto Plant on Tuesday morning. 9.15.2009

Photo by: William D. Lewis

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In this Vindicator archive photo, Cobalts are seen on the assembly line at GM Lordstown.

By Don Shilling

GM sales fell by 45 percent in the month after Cash for Clunkers ended.

Most car dealers are hoping for better days after posting a slow September.

“It was one of the slowest months I’ve ever experienced,” said Barry Gonis, general manger of Spitzer Chevrolet in North Jackson. “Cash for Clunkers brought a lot of purchases ahead.”

Automakers got a big lift in July and August from Clunkers, which spurred sales of new cars and trucks. The government program’s big discounts lured in many customers who otherwise would have waited until later in the year to walk into dealerships.

September sales reports, which were released Thursday, showed that most automakers paid a price for the increased sales in the summer.

General Motors Corp. posted the biggest slowdown in U.S. sales in September, with a 45-percent decline from the same month last year. Chrysler Group LLC posted a 42-percent drop.

Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. said sales fell 13 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. said its sales fell 7 percent. Ford Motor Co. had the smallest decline among major manufacturers, falling 5.1 percent.

Hyundai bucked the trend, reporting a 27 percent rise in sales last month over last year.

Meanwhile, one group of car dealers remains on edge. Saturn dealers are waiting for word on their future after they learned Wednesday that Penske Automotive Group had pulled out of a deal to take over the Saturn brand from GM.

Bill Burns, general manager at Saturn of Boardman, said he hopes a deal can be salvaged to save the brand.

GM told the media that it would stop making Saturns as soon as possible and the dealership network would be phased out.

Burns said, however, that he hopes that a deal with Penske can be revived or negotiations can be started with other groups that had expressed interest in Saturn previously.

Burns said the local Saturn dealerships remain open and are selling new Saturns and a variety of used vehicles. He said GM is offering warranties on all Saturn vehicles, which can be serviced at any GM dealership.

Officials with Saturn of Rt. 422 in Niles could not be reached. Both the Boardman and Niles Saturn dealerships are owned by Jim Pace.

GM had planned to keep making Saturns for Penske through 2011, when Saturn would have a different source for its vehicles. Reports said Penske backed out of the deal because it couldn’t find another automaker to produce vehicles for Saturn.

The Chevrolet Cobalt, which is produced at GM’s Lordstown complex, fared poorly last month.

GM said it sold 7,381 Cobalts last month, down 55 percent from the 16,521 sold in September 2008. Cobalt sales totaled 17,393 during August when sales were fueled by Cash for Clunkers.

During the first nine months of this year, GM sold 85,885 Cobalts. That’s down 47 percent from the 162,462 that were sold during the same period of 2008.

Gonis from Spitzer Chevrolet said he thinks car sales will rebound in the area. He noted that the GM Lordstown complex is adding a second shift of workers next week, and other new industrial businesses in the North Jackson area are either under construction or in the planning stages.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.