Detroit automakers see slowdown

DETROIT, June 22 (UPI) -- Detroit's automakers face a dire sales year because of rising gas prices and a slowing national economy, analysts say.

Consumers appear to be buying new vehicles in June at the slowest monthly rate in more than a decade, and they are not buying pickups and SUVs, which have been automakers' lifeblood in recent years, the Detroit Free Press reported Sunday.

The newspaper reported Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are struggling financially despite massive cost-cutting and job reductions in recent years.

"The industry started out with one problem, which was cost, then it was market share, then it was commodity prices, then it was gas prices. It just goes on and on for these guys," said Shelly Lombard, an analyst with Gimme Credit.

"This is the worst situation they've ever been in, because there are so many things going wrong," Lombard added.

At Chrysler, for instance, Chairman Bob Nardelli told employees last week the company had seen a "significant and continued softening of the U.S. automotive market," with an annual sales rate near 12.5 million, the lowest in 16 years if the projection holds true.