January Auto Sales Bloodbath Preview

Tomorrow the D(istreesed)-3 post their January sales numbers. It will come as no surprise as GM, Ford and Chrysler "shock" the market with the latest batch of horrendous news which may likely serve as a preamble to more Detroit-to-DC panhandling daytrips. Last January, the SAAR (seasonally adjusted annual selling rate) was 15.8 million, while tomorrow the expectation is for a number just around 10 million, a tad worse than the constantly reducing worst-case number that GM keeps throwing out there as the baseline for it to "continue existing"

Anyway, some facts: Ward's Automotive, an industry source, expects January SAAR of 10.5 million, while Brian Jacoby of Goldman thinks the number will be 10 million, and expects the following year-over-year declines: GM down 38%, Ford down 33%, and Chrysler down 53%. So where is Steve Rattner already - we demand to know? Surely the car czar can wave a magic wand and sweep the nuclear fallout from Detroit under his Thain-eqsue carpet at 998 Fifth Ave.