Domestic auto sales tank

First, this from the AP:

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors’ October U.S. sales plunged 45 percent, and Ford’s and Chrysler’s weren’t far behind, as low consumer confidence and tight credit combined to bring the industry’s sales to an “unsustainably weak level” that is the worst in 25 years.

Automakers sold 838,156 vehicles in October, 32 percent fewer than the same month last year and the worst performance since January 1991, according to Autodata Corp. and Ward’s AutoInfoBank. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 10.6 million vehicles was the since February 1983.

“It’s really an unsustainably weak level for all manufacturers,” said Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s executive director of global market and industry analysis. “This is clearly a severe, severe recession for the U.S. automotive industry and something we really can’t sustain.”

Now, this from a guy who has been looking for a car for the past 12 months:

What do they expect? They load all sorts of expensive options on cars that price them out of the market for people like me. Can I please get a new vehicle that has manual door locks and crank windows? Can I get a small pickup with a four-cylinder engine? Can I get a van that has a decent reputation for reliability?

I looked at a local dealership about a year ago for a small pickup. Everything had a V-8 engine. I wanted something smaller, but there was nothing.

This would-be buyer is of the opinion that Detroit did well filling the wishes of people who didn't mind spending $30,000 for a $17,000 car. But it told people like me to go away. So we did.