2001 is second-best auto sales year

DETROIT - A wave of incentive programs after the Sept. 11 attacks helped make 2001 the second-best year for auto sales in U.S. history. <br> <br> Sales figures released Thursday indicated that automakers sold 17.2 million vehicles in the United States last year. That was second only to 17.4 million in 2000. <br> <br> The 2001 figures also showed that trucks, including sport utility vehicles, outsold passenger cars by about 300,000 units. It marked the first time cars have been outsold by trucks. <br> <br> The incentive programs are certain to cut into automakers&#39; profits, but some analysts say the deals may have been worth it for the industry. <br> <br> &#34;Regardless of the effect on profits, the move stimulated sales and may have prevented the economy from rolling over and dying in the wake of Sept. 11,&#34; said Efraim Levy, senior automotive analyst for Standard and Poor&#39;s. <br> <br> General Motors began the wave of zero- and low-interest financing offers following the Sept. 11 attacks as a way to re-ignite already floundering sales. Ford and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG followed suit, as did Toyota on a more limited basis. <br> <br> The last of the offers is due to expire later this month, though new offers are expected from some automakers. <br> <br> U.S. automakers credited incentives for sparking the late-year sales surge, though American Honda Motor Co. set nine all-time records with almost no special offers. <br> <br> Toyota reported its best-ever year, selling 1.74 million cars and trucks -- a 7.5 percent increase over 2000. <br> <br> The Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG said sales for the year were off less than 10 percent from 2000. GM reported a 1 percent drop from 2000. <br> <br> Capping off a troubled year that included the Firestone tire controversy, the departure of chief executive Jacques Nasser and declining earnings, Ford said its sales dropped 6 percent in 2001 from a year earlier. <br> <br> Passenger car sales slumped, but Ford said its F-series pickup trucks remained the best-selling vehicle in the United States for the 20th straight year. <br> <br> <br>

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