All the numbers are in for the first month of sales in 2009... and they aren't pretty. Chrysler LLC and General Motors continue to lead the pack with sales drops of 54.8% and 48.8%, respectively. While the overall economy is weak and access to credit limited, the fact that Americans watched both domestic automakers plead for and receive federal aid in December may have contributed to their particularly poor sales performance in January. Adding support to that theory is Ford Motor Company, which saw its sales fall only 40.2% last month, while Honda (-27.9%), Nissan (29.7%) and Toyota (-31.7%) all fared better though still experienced significantly lower sales.
Despite dismal sales results from nearly the entire industry, there were two brands that did manage to post positive numbers. Kia sales were up 3% by volume, though its daily sales rate fell by 0.5%. Subaru also reported an impressive 8% gain in sales by volume, which makes it this month's Biggest Winner. The Biggest Loser this month, however, was the Chrysler brand, which reported a 68.9% fall in sales by volume (-70.1% DSR).
UPDATE: Corrected sales numbers for Hyundai, which actually reported a 14.3% rise in sales volume.
| BY THE NUMBERS - January 2009 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Vol. % Change | Total Sales 1/09 | Total Sales 1/08 | DSR % Change | Daily Avg. 1/09 | Daily Avg. 1/08 |
 Acura | -29.7% | 7,856 | 11,168 | -32.4% | 302 | 447 |
 Audi | -26.4% | 4,722 | 6,418 | -29.3% | 182 | 257 |
 BMW | -15.5% | 12,232 | 14,475 | -18.7% | 470 | 579 |
 Buick | -45.3% | 6,969 | 12,749 | -47.4% | 268 | 510 |
 Cadillac | -42.5% | 8,499 | 14,792 | -44.8% | 327 | 592 |
 Chevrolet | -48.4% | 77,186 | 149,548 | -50.4% | 2,969 | 5,982 |
 Chrysler | -68.9% | 10,685 | 34,372 | -70.1% | 411 | 1,375 |
 Dodge | -50.4% | 34,638 | 69,884 | -52.3% | 1,332 | 2,795 |
 Ford | -39.5% | 79,322 | 131,074 | -41.8% | 3,051 | 5,243 |
 GMC | -40.8% | 19,120 | 32,270 | -43% | 735 | 1,291 |
 Honda | -27.7% | 63,175 | 87,343 | -30.5% | 2,430 | 3,494 |
 HUMMER | -59.9% | 1,222 | 3,050 | -61.5% | 47 | 122 |
 Hyundai | 14.3% | 24,512 | 21,452 | 9.9% | 943 | 858 |
 Infiniti | -17.7% | 7,115 | 8,644 | -20.1% | 274 | 346 |
 Jeep | -49.2% | 16,834 | 33,136 | -51.2% | 647 | 1,325 |
 Kia | 3.5% | 22,096 | 21,355 | -0.5% | 850 | 854 |
 Lexus | -27.5% | 14,722 | 20,299 | -30.3% | 566 | 812 |
 Lincoln | -23.7% | 6,091 | 7,985 | -26.7% | 234 | 319 |
 Mazda | -27.3% | 15,420 | 21,212 | -30.1% | 593 | 848 |
 Mercedes | -42.9% | 10,433 | 18,275 | -45.1% | 401 | 731 |
 Mercury | -44.2% | 5,183 | 9,296 | -46.4% | 199 | 372 |
 MINI | -15.4% | 2,082 | 2,460 | -18.6% | 80 | 98 |
 Mitsubishi | -34.5% | 4,730 | 7,226 | -37.0% | 182 | 289 |
 Nissan | -31.2% | 46,769 | 67,961 | -33.8% | 1,799 | 2,718 |
 Pontiac | -60.5% | 9,104 | 23,025 | -62% | 350 | 921 |
 Porsche | -36.1% | 1,658 | 2,595 | -38.6% | 64 | 104 |
 Saab | -46.1% | 955 | 1,772 | -48.2% | 37 | 71 |
 Saturn | -59.8% | 6,172 | 15,359 | -61.4% | 237 | 614 |
 Subaru | 8.0% | 12,194 | 11,289 | 3.9% | 469 | 452 |
 Suzuki | -48.7% | 3,655 | 7,120 | -50.6% | 141 | 285 |
 Toyota | -32.3% | 102,565 | 151,550 | -34.9% | 3,945 | 6,062 |
 VW | -11.6% | 12,744 | 14,412 | -15.0% | 490 | 576 |
 Volvo | -63.8% | 2,910 | 8,036 | -65.2% | 112 | 321 |
| COMPANIES | ||||||
| BMW Group | -15.5% | 14,314 | 16,935 | -18.7% | 551 | 677 |
| Chrysler LLC | -54.8% | 62,157 | 137,392 | -56.5% | 2,391 | 5,496 |
| FoMoCo | -40.2% | 93,506 | 156,391 | -42.5% | 3,596 | 6,256 |
| General Motors | -48.8% | 129,227 | 252,565 | -50.8% | 4,970 | 10,102 |
| Honda America | -27.9% | 71,031 | 98,511 | -30.7% | 2,732 | 3,940 |
| Nissan NA | -29.7% | 53,884 | 76,605 | -32.4% | 2,072 | 3,064 |
| Toyota Mo Co | -31.7% | 117,287 | 171,849 | -34.4% | 4,511 | 6,874 |
