Automakers Report Worst January Sales in Almost 50 Years†

Monthly Totals in U.S. Fall Below Those in China for First Time

Advertising Age, February 4, 2009 — DETROIT (AdAge.com) — The last time the auto industry sold roughly 669,000 vehicles in the U.S. in January, as it did this year, was in 1963, when Chubby Checker ruled the music charts and Michael Jordan was born. Adding to that bad news, China surpassed the U.S. for the first time in monthly sales, said Mike DiGiovanni, executive director-global market analysis at General Motors Corp. He said about 790,000 units were sold in China last month.