General Motors and Ford Motors posted lower March sales today, dragged down by weak truck and car rental fleet demand, while Asian rivals led by Toyota continued to make inroads in the US market.
Chrysler Group, the troubled US unit of DaimlerChrysler AG, also reported a slide of 4.6 per cent in March.
The results came a day ahead of DaimlerChrysler's annual shareholders' meeting in Berlin, when the German parent is expected to face thousands of investors eager to know where things stand on a possible sale of Chrysler Group.
DaimlerChrysler said in mid-February that it was examining all its options for Chrysler, including a possible sale. Its luxury Mercedes brand posted a 1 per cent sales rise.
The figures were not adjusted on a selling day basis.
Toyota, the fastest growing major automaker, posted a 7.7-per cent increase in March on the strength of its sedans, including the Prius hybrid car, and crossover or car-based sports utility vehicles.
Nissan Motor's sales rose 3.9 per cent, driven by a big increase in the luxury Infiniti division, while Honda Motor Co. Ltd. sales were up 7.3 per cent.
General Motors said its sales declined 7.7 per cent from a year earlier, while Ford's overall sales fell 12.4 per cent in March, as sales of its key F-Series pickup trucks fell 15 per cent.
GM's fleet sales - which typically go to car rental companies and government agencies - fell 11.8 per cent.
Retail sales also fell 6.2 per cent, driven by big declines in pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, prompting the automaker to cut its second-quarter North American production forecast by 15,000 units to 1.16 million vehicles.
GM's chief sales analyst Paul Ballew estimated industrywide US auto sales for March would come in at 16.2 million vehicles on an annualized basis, representing a decrease from 16.6 million a year ago.