Still, as low as these figures are, March has been the best month of 2009 in terms of sales, 24.5 percent better than February and 30.5 percent than January. The total units sold last month amounted to 857,982, down from 1,357,189 in the same month last year. The first quarter of the year stands now 38.4 percent lower than in 2008.
Sales of the infamous Detroit Three combined registered a drop of 42.1 percent, while imports managed to perform a little better, dropping "only" 31.8 percent. This means that out of the total vehicles sold in the US in March came from abroad (55.7 percent).
Foreign manufacturers gained ground in front of domestic manufacturers in terms of market share as well. GM, Chrysler and Ford lost 4.1 percent, a slightly better performance than the 6.1 percent lost in February.
Individually, GM now holds 18 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 14.5 percent share and Chrysler with only 11.3 hold. From the sales standpoint, GM dropped 44.7 percent, Ford 42.1, Chrysler 39.3, Toyota 39 percent, Nissan 37.7 and Honda 36.2 percent.
The top seller in the US remains GM, followed by Toyota Motor Sales. Whereas in 2008 the gap between the two manufacturers stood at 228,629 units, this year the American manufacturer has only 50,031 units between it and the runner-up.
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