Chrysler Sees Sales fall 55% in January, Believes 2009 U.S. Sales Could Fall Under 10 Million Units

Not that we were surprised, but a 55 percent drop in sales is something that should worry the hell out of Chrysler LLC officials. In January, the company sold a total of 62,157 Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep vehicles in the U.S. compared to 137,392 units the same month a year ago. To make matters worse, the company is quite pessimistic for 2009 as it believes that if the January trend for the SAAR continues, the industry could see 10 million units or fewer sold during the year down which is significantly less than the 11.1 million units it estimated in its submission to Congress last year.

"Consumer credit, versus consumer demand, influenced our January retail results. We saw a negative trend in December, we're seeing it again this month and we could see it for the year. Many more consumers wanted to buy a vehicle than could qualify for financing under the current credit conditions," stated Steven Landry, Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing, MOPAR Parts and Service.