CHICAGO - US AUTO sales crashed again in December as the industry posted its worst year since 1992 and the Detroit Three saw their annual share of their home market slip beneath 50 per cent for the first time, industry data showed on Monday.

Chrysler lead the way in losses with a 53 per cent monthly drop and Toyota, Honda, GM and Ford posted drops of 31 to 37 per cent.

Total industry sales fell 36 per cent in December to 896,124, which helped drag 2008 sales down 18 per cent to 13.2 million vehicles, according to Autodata.

GM, Ford and Chrysler saw their combined market share fall to just 47.6 per cent from 51.1 per cent in 2007 just days after the Treasury department finalised billions in loans to help prop up cash-strapped GM and Chrysler.

High fuel prices pushed passenger cars sales over the 50 per cent share mark for the first time since 2000 as truck, minivan and sport utility sales slipped to 48.8 per cent of the US market from 53.1 per cent in 2007.

Asian brands, led by Toyota and Honda, saw their market share increase to 44.6 per cent in 2008 from 41.7 per cent in 2007, according to Autodata.

European brands also posted gains, as their share rose to 0.6 points to 7.8 per cent.

Tight credit and growing economic uncertainty has kept consumers away from showrooms for months and December's losses were expected to continue well into 2009.

General Motors slashed its North American production plans for the first quarter by 180,000 units to 420,000 vehicles which is down about 53 per cent from 2007.

The largest US automaker saw December sales fall 31 per cent to 221,983 vehicles while 2008 sales were down 23 per cent to just under three million vehicles.

Fears of a potential bankruptcy and bad press surrounding GM's request for a massive government bailout did impact sales, said Mr Mark LaNeve, vice-president of GM's North American vehicle sales, service and marketing.

But GM still managed to grab a bigger piece of the US market - up 1.6 points to 24.4 per cent in December and up 1.4 points to 23.5 per cent in 2008, according to Autodata.

'That's very encouraging despite some very extraordinary things happening in the market place and with our company,' Mr LaNeve said in a conference call.

Chrysler's share of the US market dropped 3.8 points to just 10 percent in December after sales plummeted by 53 per cent to 89,813 vehicles.

Its share for 2008 dropped 1.9 points to 11 per cent after sales fell 30 per cent to 2.1 million vehicles.

Chrysler attributed some of the losses to a significant reduction in low-margin fleet sales, which were down 63 per cent in December and 31 per cent for the year.

'Chrysler will continue to invest in quality and fuel efficiency improvements on its current lineup, while developing all-new vehicles for the next generation,' Chrysler president and vice-chairman Jim Press said in a statement.

'From an organisational viewpoint, we will work with all of our stakeholders to continue the restructuring our company.'

Ford's market share rose 0.9 points to 14.9 per cent even as its sales fell 32 per cent to 133,372 in December. Its share for the year, however, fell 0.4 points to 14.4 per cent as sales dropped 20 per cent to just under 2.4 million vehicles.

Ford attributed December's gains to strong demand for its new F-150 pickup truck and a new line of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

'This is a strong ending to end a very challenging year,' said Mr Jim Farley, Ford's group vice-president of marketing and communications.

Toyota saw its share slip by 0.3 points to 15.8 per cent in December as sales fell 37 per cent to 141,949 vehicles but maintained its number two spot in the US market.

It managed to increase its share for 2008 by 0.5 points to 16.7 percent despite a 16 per cent drop in sales to 2.2 million vehicles.

'The sooner stimulus efforts find their way to where they'll do the most good - into the hands of consumers - the sooner we'll see a turnaround in confidence levels and a return of buyers to the marketplace,' said Toyota Motor Sales USA president Jim Lentz.

Honda increased its share by 0.1 points to 9.6 per cent despite a 34.7 per cent drop in December sales to 86,085.

Its share rose 1.2 points to 10.8 per cent in 2008 despite an eight percent drop in annual sales to 1.4 million vehicles.

'American Honda's sales mirror the industry's current condition,' said Mr Dick Colliver, executive vice-president of American Honda Motor Co.

'We believe Honda will be in a strong position when the market stabilises.' -- AFP