February 4th, 2009 by Reed Allmand 
According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, American automakers started the New Year with a fizzle as the car sales sank amid the increase in job losses, foreclosure, bankruptcy and decreased consumer spending.
The article said:
Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday its U.S. vehicle sales fell 40 percent in January,
Ford sold 93,060 light vehicles in January, compared with 155,832 in the same month of 2008. Toyota sold 117,287 vehicles, down from 171,849. Light vehicle sales exclude heavy trucks.
Other automakers also are expected to report lower sales when they release their figures later Tuesday. The industry has reported at least a 30 percent decline in U.S. sales every month since October.
A 30 percent sales decline every month? That’s huge! With sales declines like that these, struggling automakers are one step closer to bankruptcy, no wonder they’re desperately implementing job losses and trying to shed high-paid union workers. The fact of the matter is that many Americans are simply financially strained and can’t afford used cars let alone brand new cars with loans attached to them. Many ordinary Americans are struggling with job losses, foreclosures and bankruptcy which are preventing them from considering luxuries such as new cars. The auto industry is dependent on an ever increasing supply of new customers but with the recession, it’s just not going to happen. We can probably expect to see more job losses from these automakers and at least one major bankruptcy if the economic conditions do not improve.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
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