The Associated Press
and Bloomberg News

DETROIT - Detroit's Big Three automakers saw sales fall 3.8 percent last month as consumers shied away from large purchases, but the declines were milder than many forecasts before the United States went to war with Iraq.

General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, said Tuesday that its total light vehicle sales dropped 3.3 percent in March - a month that company analyst Paul Ballew called simply "OK."

However, considering that many predicted a decline in sales not seen in four or five years, Ballew said the industry could find "a degree of comfort" in the results.

"Heading into this month, we certainly believed and anticipated we'd be wrestling with a lot of the anxiety we were seeing in the marketplace," he said. "It's interesting now ... really how `normal' the month turned out. It was certainly a bit stronger than most people expected."

Ford, the world's second-biggest automaker, said its sales fell 5 percent last month.

The company, in the midst of a five-year restructuring, said its new car volume was off 2.7 percent, while truck sales fell 5.9 percent.

Chrysler's overall sales declined 3.4 percent in March. Car sales were off nearly 20 percent, while truck volume rose 2.5 percent.

Last year, Americans bought 16.8 million new cars and trucks - the fourth-best year on record.

Automobile sales account for approximately 24 percent of total U.S. retail sales tracked by the U.S. Commerce Department.