Weak economy pushes auto sales off a cliff

The troubled US economy weighed down auto sales in March as skittish consumers cut back on purchases, especially of big luxury cars and trucks, sales reports showed Tuesday.
General Motors reported a 13 percent slide from a year ago in US sales as production fell sharply due to a strike at a key supplier. Ford Motor Co. saw a 14.3 percent slide while Chrysler LLC, heavily dependent on sport utility vehicles, witnessed a 19 percent plunge.
Among the big Japanese automakers, Toyota reported a 3.4 percent drop, while Nissan sales rose 3.6 percent and Honda showed a 4.2 percent gain.
Jesse Toprak, analyst at the research firm Edmunds.com, said the modest gains for some Japanese makers were misleading, since they were in the low-cost car category that typically delivers less profit.