Automakers, hammered by a credit crisis that has kept consumers from making major purposes, sold fewer than one million cars last month.  The last time that happened was more than 15 years ago.  Though analysts had expected a bad month, the actual numbers were worse than most predictions.

The AP reports, "Americans bought 964,873 vehicles in September, the lowest sales figure since February 1993, according to Autodata Corp. and the Edmunds.com automotive Web site. Sales fell 27 percent compared with September 2007, with every major brand but General Motors Corp. reporting drops of at least 24 percent."

The sales announcements marked an eleventh consecutive month of declines, but the first time on record that no automaker reported an increase in sales at all.  Autoblog notes, "It doesn't matter how you slice it, whether you look at the change in volume from Sept. 2007 to Sept. 2008 or if you consider the change in the Daily Sales Rate. Everyone is down."

The Washington Post adds, "General Motors, Toyota, Ford and Chrysler, the four largest automakers in the U.S. market, reported double-digit sales drops."

Forbes reports that Ford's sales were down 34.5 percent from one year ago.  Chrysler's sales dropped 33 percent, and Toyota's 32, according to MarketWatch.

The AP reports that "General Motors Corp., buoyed by its offer of employee pricing on most of its vehicles, saw U.S. sales drop a less severe 16 percent, boosting the automaker's market share to its best level all year." But the company won over many buyers with the popular "employee pricing" discount sale in September -- meaning it made less money on each heavily discounted car than in other months. 

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