Car sales plunge heralding bleak 2009

By Kevin Krolicki and David Bailey

DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. auto sales plunged by 36 percent in December led by outsized declines at Chrysler LLC, Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) and Toyota Motor Corp(7203.T) as the battered industry closed out its weakest year since 1992 in its largest single market.

Chrysler's sales dropped by 53 percent in December, a month when the automaker and larger rival General Motors Corp (GM.N) fought to clinch a $17.4 billion bailout from the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, Toyota, the global industry leader, posted a sales drop of 37 percent for the month, its worst U.S. sales decline since at least 1980.

Hyundai's sales tumbled 48 percent and it responded with an unusual marketing campaign targeting shell-shocked U.S. consumers with an offer allowing them to return new cars if they lose their jobs.

The plummeting sales for December had been widely expected and were slightly better than some of the most dire forecasts. But the unrelenting slide in auto sales seemed certain to raise concerns about the depth of the ongoing recession in the early months of 2009.

"January and February are typically some of the slowest months for the industry volume historically and for March we are probably not going to see much of an uptick at all," said Edmunds.com analyst Jesse Toprak.

December sales for Honda Motor Co (7267.T) dropped 35 percent and Ford Motor Co (F.N) fell 32 percent. GM and Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) saw sales decline by 31 percent.

The sales figures were the first since the U.S. Treasury extended an initial $8 billion in loans to GM and Chrysler to avoid a cash crunch that both had warned was looming.