New and Used Car Sales Tumble

Besides GM stuffing its dealers with excess inventory at record levels to create the illusion of car sales, allowing the company to book revenue, not only has there now been a collapse in show room traffic, but car dealers can't close sales.

Based on sales data from roughly midway through May, CNW Marketing forecasts overall U.S. new car sales will be up only about 6 percent from May 2011 -- well below the double-digit pace of 2012 overall, year-to-date.

The used car market, where demand is usually higher than for new cars, is also weakening. And CNW claims there is a sharp decline in new car sales to young buyers. "In the late 1990s and early 2000s, they accounted for about 5 percent of the U.S. market. That’s now down to barely 2 percent among 16- to 21-year-olds."