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Offers of huge rebates and tempting low-interest loans weren’t enough to entice car buyers out of their bunkers in this economic crisis, causing U.S. auto sales in February to hover near historic lows.

General Motors’ sales tumbled 53 percent from a year earlier, while Ford’s U.S. sales fell 48 percent and Chrysler’s dropped 44 percent. The major Japanese automakers fared only slightly better.

Things are so bad that GM, which marked its worst February sales since 1967, is considering a program to let buyers keep their cars for a time without making payments if they lose their jobs.

The overall slide casts further doubt on the financial viability of GM and Chrysler, which need to sell cars and generate critical cash to supplement the $17.4 billion in government loans that are keeping them in business.

Overall, U.S. auto sales were down 41 percent from February 2008 but up 5 percent from January, according to Autodata Corp. and Ward’s AutoInfoBank.

The increase was a good sign, but it’s far less than the usual 14 percent sales bump from January to February, and it doesn’t necessarily mean sales have hit the bottom, said Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for the auto website Edmunds.com.

"It does mean that there’s some life out there," Toprak said.

Automakers and analysts have been predicting sales will rebound in the second half of this year, but they are becoming less certain. Massive layoffs, the stock market decline and sliding home values are prompting people to hold on to their vehicles, while those who are buying are more often buying a used one.

Emily Kolinski Morris, Ford’s top economist, said retail sales to individuals had been stable for four months but dropped in February. Ford’s forecast still calls for a modest second-half recovery as economic stimulus measures take hold, Morris said.

Analysts say that when all the numbers are tallied, February sales could be worse than January’s total of 656,976 light vehicles, the lowest monthly total since the industry sold 656,310 vehicles in December 1981, according to Autodata Corp new car loan rates. and Ward’s AutoInfoBank.

The trough is likely even though automakers spent more on rebates, low-interest financing and other incentives to lure buyers. "If it wasn’t for the generous level of incentives now, we probably would be seeing even lower sales, if you can believe it," Toprak said.

Industrywide, the average incentive per vehicle last month rose 8 percent from January to $2,914 per vehicle sold, according to Edmunds. Incentives climbed to an average of 20 percent of a new car’s sticker price, topping more than $10,000 on some vehicles.

Chrysler executives said its incentive last month of employee pricing plus cash discounts and zero-percent financing helped spur sales of some vehicles, and it will continue the program in March. Still, February sales for the Dodge Ram pickup, made at the Fenton plant, fell 36 percent from a year ago.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp.’s U.S. sales plunged 40 percent. Honda Motor Co.’s sales dropped 38 percent, and Nissan Motor Co.’s fell 37 percent.

Within GM’s decline, sales of its GMC Savana fell 47 percent from a year ago, and its Chevy Express dropped 67 percent. Workers in Wentzville make the full-size vans.

Most automakers posted significant declines, but Subaru of America Inc.’s U.S. sales edged up 1 percent in February as sales of its top-selling Forester model doubled. Kia Motors Corp.’s sales were about flat from a year earlier.

Angela Tablac of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

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