Shares Of Car Makers And Their Suppliers Hammered After March Sales Disappoint

Shares of car makers and their suppliers were mostly lower Monday, after March U.S. car sales hit a two-year low, hit by factors including the widening price gap between new and used autos as well as rising interest rates and a slowing of the replacement cycle. Autodata reported that car sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.62 million in the month, down from 17.58 million in February. O'Reilly Automotive Inc. led S&P 500 decliners, falling 4.5% in late trade. CarMax Inc. fell 4.2% and AutoNation Inc. was down 3.5%. General Motors Co. slid 3.2%, Delphi Automotive Plc. fell 2.8% and AutoZone Inc. was down 2.9%. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. fell 2.2%. The S&P 500 was down 0.2%.