All Cars, All the Time

General Motors reports 11% drop in U.S. vehicle sales for April

GM's sales fell 11% with a drop of sales of SUV's "only" 2.3% while sales of cars dropped a staggering 21%. Sales of the new Chevy Tahoe rose to 13,138 from 10, 134.

Ford sales fell 6.6%, but it was trucks not cars leading the plunge (a flip of GM's story): sales of trucks fell nearly 15% and cars were up 8.3%. The "can't catch a break" restyled Explorer's sales plunged.

Chrysler's auto sales declined 8% in April a reversal after previous months' gains. Mercedes-Benz USA division was up 13%.

Toyota was up 4.5% and Honda was up 2.6%. Nissan wasn't so lucky, sales were down 5.3%.

Overall industry sales were up from March but down as compared to last April.

What's in a number? Well these numbers are sourced from this WSJ story (the online Journal is free this week). Some folks are comparing sales from April 2006 to March 2006 while other stories are comparing April 2006 to April 2005.

Want more information? General Motors has a nice table that you can view details at the division level.