1.   Already, retail and automobile sales have slid seven straight months, and few economists see a turnaround before next spring.

2.   And with automobile sales in their eighth month of decline, and no turnaround expected until the summer, carmakers will order less steel, plastics and chemicals.

3.   Automobile sales at home have fallen seven straight months, since the government raised the national sales tax.

4.   Automobile sales are plunging across much of Europe, but particularly in Germany, where the government has imposed big increases in gasoline taxes in the last year.

5.   Automobile sales are slowing, and personal incomes fell in October for the first time in many months.

6.   Automobile sales have fallen seven straight months, and will continue falling in the months ahead, analysts said.

7.   Automobile sales, which started the year robustly, have slowed.

8.   Automobile sales in Japan have fallen seven consecutive months after the government raised the national sales tax.

9.   Automobile sales suggest the slackening continued in May.

10.   Automobile sales have fallen four straight months, and analysts forecast another decline in August.