U.S. auto sales fell 21% in August compared to a very strong month a year ago, when the federal government's "cash for clunkers" program sparked a surge in new-car buying. General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. all reported declines of 25% or more while Ford Motor Co. saw its sales drop 11%. The few gainers included Chrysler Group LLC, which reported a 7% rise, mainly because of higher sales to corporate fleets such as rental-car companies. Chrysler also is one of the few makers that didn't see much of a lift from the clunkers program a year ago because its lineup includes few small cars, which were big sellers under the rebates. Auto makers sold 997,968 light vehicles in August, down from 1,262,197 a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. The annualized selling pace for the month was 11.47 million vehicles, in line with the pace of the last five months but down from the 14.17 million level hit in August 2009, Autodata said. Earlier this decade the industry sold about 16 million cars a year. Despite the steep drop from a year earlier, car makers expressed confidence that the slow, steady recovery in vehicle sales remains on track. August's sales were down just 5% from July's, Autodata said. "We're not panicking about the trend of the industry," Don Johnson, vice president of GM's U.S. sales operations, said in a conference call. "We know that it's going to be continually bumpy." He added that GM sees a "low risk" for a so-called double-dip recession. Many consumers who would like to buy a new car are hesitating because of the uncertain economy, high unemployment, weak home prices and sliding stock market. Ford's senior U.S. economist, Emily Kolinski Morris, agreed that consumers are being "very cautious." But she doesn't see car sales stalling and instead continuing at their modest pace.
