U.S. Auto Sales on Track for Worst Year Since 1970

(MoneyWatch)  As bad as things are for Chrysler, which just declared bankruptcy, and for General Motors, which is also on the brink, it's worth repeating that U.S. sales are nearly as bad for Toyota, Honda and Nissan, too.

That says buyers are sitting on their wallets regardless, despite deep discounts. Incentive programs from Ford, GM and Hyundai will even pick up your car payments if you lose your job.

A comeback in demand for cars and trucks remains remote as ever, as the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for April 2009 was about 9.3 million units, according to AutoData Corp. That's an estimate of how many cars and trucks the industry would sell in an entire year, based on the monthly sales rate in April.

The SAAR has remained below 10 million every month so far this year. That's pitifully low by recent standards, and even not-so-recent standards. The last time U.S. auto sales were below 10 million for an entire year was 1970, according to Automotive News.

Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com, said in a written statement that the industry could be throwing good money after bad, by continuing to offer high incentives. Edmunds.com estimated that incentives averaged $3,031 per vehicle across the U.S. industry, versus an average of $2,351 in the year-ago month.

"This month's sales reports may prove that there is a point of diminishing returns for incentives spending," he said. "For some automakers, this month's high incentives diluted brand image and hurt residual values while delivering only a negligible lift in sales."

Toyota sales, including Toyota, Lexus and Scion, fell 41.9 percent in April versus the year-ago month. Honda and Acura combined fell 25.3 percent. Nissan plus Infiniti fell 37.8 percent.

For the entire U.S. market, car and light truck sales dropped 34.4 percent. Year to date, 2009 sales after four months were down 37.4 percent.

That's not to say Chrysler in particular is suffering equally with the rest of the market. Chrysler sales dropped 48.1 percent in April from the year-ago month. Chrysler's car sales were down 60.1 percent; trucks were down 42.8 percent.

Chart: SAAR data from AutoData Corp.