DETROIT – General Motors' October U.S. sales plunged 45 percent and Ford's dropped 30 percent, as low consumer confidence and tight credit combined to scare customers away from showrooms.

The results released Monday — along with drops of at least 23 percent for Toyota, Honda and Nissan — appeared to fulfill prophecies that the industry's sales as a whole will hit their worst level in decades.

Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors Corp.'s executive director of global market and industry analysis, said the automaker expects last month was the industry's worst U.S. sales performance since 1975 with only 851,000 vehicles sold, for an annual rate of 10.7 million vehicles.

"This is clearly a severe, severe recession for the U.S. automotive industry and something we really can't sustain," DiGiovanni said. "There really needs to be actions focused on the consumer and available credit."

Other automakers are scheduled to report their sales later Monday.

Detroit-based GM said its light trucks sales tumbled 51 percent compared with the same month last year, while demand for passenger cars fell 34 percent.

The results were less severe at Ford Motor Co., which said its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales were off 27 percent, while light truck sales for the three brands were down more than 30 percent.

Overall, GM sold 168,719 vehicles, while Ford, including its Volvo brand, sold 132,278 light vehicles last month.

If GM's sales were adjusted for population growth, October would be the worst month of the post-World War II era, DiGiovanni said.

"Clearly we're in a very dire situation," he said.

Despite the steep drop, GM's total was enough to keep it ahead of Toyota Motor Corp. for the No. 1 U.S. sales spot. Toyota, which rolled out an offer of zero-percent financing during the month, sold 152,101 vehicles, down 23 percent from a year earlier. The drop included a 34 percent decline in light truck demand, while car sales fell 15 percent.

Honda Motor Co.'s sales fell 25 percent to 85,864 vehicles, as truck sales fell 29 percent. But sales of cars from its Acura luxury division rose 6 percent.

Nissan North America Inc. sold 56,945 vehicles, a 33 percent drop, including a 52 percent decline in truck sales.

DETROIT – General Motors' October U.S. sales plunged 45 percent and Ford's dropped 30 percent, as low consumer confidence and tight credit combined to scare customers away from showrooms.

The results released Monday — along with drops of at least 23 percent for Toyota, Honda and Nissan — appeared to fulfill prophecies that the industry's sales as a whole will hit their worst level in decades.

Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors Corp.'s executive director of global market and industry analysis, said the automaker expects last month was the industry's worst U.S. sales performance since 1975 with only 851,000 vehicles sold, for an annual rate of 10.7 million vehicles.

"This is clearly a severe, severe recession for the U.S. automotive industry and something we really can't sustain," DiGiovanni said. "There really needs to be actions focused on the consumer and available credit."

Other automakers are scheduled to report their sales later Monday.

Detroit-based GM said its light trucks sales tumbled 51 percent compared with the same month last year, while demand for passenger cars fell 34 percent.

The results were less severe at Ford Motor Co., which said its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales were off 27 percent, while light truck sales for the three brands were down more than 30 percent.

Overall, GM sold 168,719 vehicles, while Ford, including its Volvo brand, sold 132,278 light vehicles last month.

If GM's sales were adjusted for population growth, October would be the worst month of the post-World War II era, DiGiovanni said.

"Clearly we're in a very dire situation," he said.

Despite the steep drop, GM's total was enough to keep it ahead of Toyota Motor Corp. for the No. 1 U.S. sales spot. Toyota, which rolled out an offer of zero-percent financing during the month, sold 152,101 vehicles, down 23 percent from a year earlier. The drop included a 34 percent decline in light truck demand, while car sales fell 15 percent.

Honda Motor Co.'s sales fell 25 percent to 85,864 vehicles, as truck sales fell 29 percent. But sales of cars from its Acura luxury division rose 6 percent.

Nissan North America Inc. sold 56,945 vehicles, a 33 percent drop, including a 52 percent decline in truck sales.

Ford officials said on a conference call with reporters and industry analysts that as bad as October sales were, it's probably not the bottom.

Meanwhile, GM's financing arm, GMAC Financial Services, said it was tightening its lending standards to require a credit score of at least 700, potentially shutting out some buyers.

Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for North American sales, said steep cutbacks in leasing accounted for half of GM's year-over-year sales decline.

About 25 percent of GM's volume in October 2007 was from leasing, but the automaker did almost no leasing last month through GMAC, LaNeve said.

Analysts said GM's employee pricing incentives in September likely pulled in buyers who would have waited to purchase cars, further reducing October sales.