Auto sales in the United States fell in 2008, with a total of 13.2 million cars and light trucks sold, down from 16.1 million in 2007, it was reported on Tuesday.

The year of 2008 was the worst year for auto sales since 1992 when there were 70 million fewer Americans, the Los Angeles Times said.

Among individual carmakers, Chrysler registered the sharpest decline with sales down 30 percent, to be followed by General Motors which saw a 22.6-percent drop, the paper said.

Ford came the third, with a 20.1-percent decline. Even Japan's Toyota and Honda, long held up as exemplars, were hit hard, with a15.4-percent and 7.9-percent drops respectively, according to the paper.

2008's decline of nearly 3 million units -- an 18-percent decrease -- could be followed by another slide of 2 million to 3 million units this year as the recession continues, the paper quoted analysts as saying.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2009)