Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

The continuing pressures of a weak housing market and high gas prices has kept consumers' wallets closed, as the U.S. auto industry continues to struggle.

Auto giant General Motors (GM) suffered the biggest drop, with sales plunging by 11 percent for the company. While a number of the automakers' sales in the U.S. had gains, it wasn't enough to offset the poor performance by GM.

Ford Motors Co (F) surprisingly was able to generate a small sales gain, as they grew by a tiny 0.4 percent; the first month in a year they've increased sales.

Toyota Motors Corp (TM) also had a very small sales increase, although even smaller than Ford's, gaining 0.3 percent.

On the other hand, Honda (HMC) gained 4.7 percent in sales and Nissan Motor (NSANY) had a good quarter, gaining 6.1 percent in sales.

Taken together, the over sales for the industry is projected to reach 15.7 million vehicles this year. Last year over 16 million vehicles sold.

Part of the management strategy to combat the slowdown, has been to cut inventory levels so the companies wouldn't have to increase sales based solely on discounting measures. Ford has cut their production levels by 7 percent and GM has cut theirs by 11 percent.

With those operational plans in place, it could result in better profits for the companies, even though sales aren't great.

Ford economist Emily Morris summed up the overall state of the economy and industry very well: "Vehicle sales have softened over the last few months. We believe this reflects concerns about the credit and stock market squeeze, along with the ongoing adjustments consumers are making in response to housing and gasoline prices."

All that is saying is uncertainty is keeping people from spending like they have in the recent past. That will continue until things shake out and begin picking up again. No one knows with any certainty when that will be.