US Auto Sales Better-Than-Expected in March; GM Reclaims Top Spot

Surprisingly, US auto sales for the month of March came in better than what the Street had been expecting. General Motors (NYSE: GM) retook the lead as the top selling automaker, surpassing Toyota (NYSE: TM) by 22,532 vehicles. Here is a run-down of results from the major automakers:

• GM's sales fell 44.7% from 280,713 vehicles in March '08 to 155,334 last month.
  
• in units sold, Japanese auto-maker Toyota came in second, reporting its sales fell 39% to 132,802 vehicles.
  
• Ford (NYSE: F) reported a 41% drop in March sales to 125,107 vehicles.
  
• Chrysler sold 101,001 vehicles during March, marking its first time since last fall that it crossed back over the 100K level. The automaker saw a 51% drop in sales during the month.
  
• Honda (NYSE: HMC) reported sales of 88,379 vehicles during the month, a 36% drop from the 138,734 units it sold in March '08.
  
• Nissan (Nasdaq: NSANY) sold 66,634 vehicles in North America during March, a 37.7% drop from the 106,921 units it sold in March '08.

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