First half of September looks terrible for domestic automakers

Wake up Detroit when September ends, because this isn't going to go down as one of the better sales months in recent history. GM is holding down only 19.1% of the market so far this month. Contrast that with its year-ago market share of 28%. Ford is coming in with 17.3%, while Chrysler is capturing 12.7%. For import brands, things are looking much better. Toyota captured 15.5% of the market, while Honda jumped nearly 3% to 13.2% and Nissan grabbed an additional point of share and climbed to 8.0%. Overall market sales are at 12.7 million annualized units, which is a drop of over 30% from July, and 12% lower than year-ago levels. The driving factors are said to be - to no one's surprise - the effects of higher fuel prices, Hurricane Katrina's economic impact, and the end of employee discount promotions.