Chrysler LLC's U.S. October Sales Down 35%

As if Chrysler LLC doesn't have enough probblems to worry about, now it has to deal with the overall decline in U.S. auto sales. The firm which comprises the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands reported total October 2008 U.S. sales of 94,530 units, down a staggering 35 percent from the same month last year. Chrysler suffered the most losses selling a mere 19,903 vehicles in October which represents a decrease of 51 percent compared to the same month a year ago. The Jeep brand delivered 21,360 units in October, down 33% from last year while Dodge sold 53,267 vehicles, a 27 percent decline from October 2007.

"While October was a very tough month for everyone in this business, we as an industry must focus on the fact that there are still many serious car buyers out there, and every company has an equal opportunity to win their business," said Jim Press, Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman and President.

"From a Chrysler perspective, we are pleased that despite this marketplace downturn, our critically important Dodge Ram launch is on schedule and our overall pickup truck share is on target. We look forward to rolling out the rest of our 2009 model year vehicles with improved quality and fuel economy and fighting for those customers who are in the market," Press added.

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Video: 2009 Dodge Challenger Crash Test

Dodge's resurrected Challenger coupe proved that it's as safe as it is good-looking by pulling-off perfect 5-star ratings in both frontal and side-impact crash tests for the driver and passenger seating positions in recent U.S. government testing conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It's never a pretty site seeing a new car being smashed -even though in this case it's for the noblest of reasons- but for those of you that don't mind just skip the jump and watch the actual video footage from NHTSA's crash test assesment of the 2009 Dodge Challenger.

SEMA: Mercedes-Benz GLK Speedster

*Updated With New High-Resolution Image Gallery

One of the most extreme concepts at this year's Las Vegas SEMA Show is the Urban Whip from Boulevard Customs. The Florida-based coach builder took the new Mercedes-GLK and transformed into a four-door, crossover speedster -that sounds even weirder than it looks... The crew over at Boulevard Customs removed the GLK's rooftop, chopped the windscreen and added the usual bling-bling accessories that SEMA is so famous for like the massive 26-inch alloy wheels and tires, the wide-body kit and more chrome than meets the eye. -Continued

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VW to Showcase Jetta, Passat CC and Tiguan SUV Concepts at SEMA

For the 2008 SEMA show Volkswagen will bring to Las Vegas a triplet of concept cars based on the Jetta TDI, Passat CC and the new Tiguan SUV respectively as well as an example of its 2009 Jetta TDI Cup race car (pictured above). The most interesting proposal appears to be the Tiguan Performance Concept. According to VW, the Tiguan study's appearance is upgraded with an exterior body kit while power comes from a 4-cylinder engine equipped with a three-stage turbo kit that helps it deliver an output of 312HP. The German automaker has yet to release any other details or pictures, but stay tuned on Carscoop as we'll update this story as soon as we have more information.

Gas powered model car

Gas powered model car III, originally uploaded by PrairyErthling.

Red Audi TT

Artificially LiTT 2, originally uploaded by Simon Pow.

Toyota's U.S. Sales Fall 24.2% in October, Lexus Sales Plunge 37.6%

In what may be one of the worst months in U.S. automotive sales in more than two decades, the Toyota Group which consists of the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands reported U.S. October sales of 152,101 vehicles, a decrease of 25.9 percent from last October, on a daily selling rate basis. More specifically, the Toyota division -including Scion- posted October sales of 135,818 units, a decrease of 24.2 percent from last year while Lexus reported sales of 16,283 units, a 37.6 percent drop from the same month a year-ago.

Toyota's passenger cars recorded October sales of 84,904 units, down 14.2 percent from the same period last year. Even the "hot" Prius didn't manage to escape unhurt with sales of 11,804 units, a 13.6 percent drop from last year. Surprisingly, the Corolla achieved its best-ever October sales with 27,386 units, up 2.2 percent over the year-ago month. The firm's light truck sales came up to 50,914 units, down 36.5 percent from October 2007. Scion posted October sales of 6,743 units.

In spite of what you may think, Lexus passenger cars (IS, ES, GS, LS and SC) performed worse than their SUV siblings with October sales of 9,332 units, a decrease of 40.2 percent from October 2007. The luxury firm's SUVs meaning the RX, GX and LX models recorded October sales of 6,951 units, down 33.7 percent from the year-ago month.

Overall, for the first 10 months of the year, Toyota has sold 1,724,902 passenger cars and light trucks in the U.S.A, down 10.9 percent from last year while Lexus' 220,502 vehicles, off 18.6 percent from a year earlier.