North Dakota's House has defeated a proposed 5 percent state tax exemption for new Ford Motor Co. , Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. cars and trucks. The measure got its first legislative hearing last week. It was put on the fast track for a vote because car dealers said it was delaying some customers' buying decisions. Representatives voted 64-29 on Monday to defeat the measure. It offered the 5 percent tax break for new vehicle sales and leases until June 30, 2010. Some lawmakers doubted whether the companies deserved the tax break.

Honda Motor Co. , Japan's second-largest carmaker, said U.S. sales in January dropped by a comparable level to December's 35 percent, spokeswoman Tomoko Uchida said Monday. Tokyo-based Honda on Jan. 30 slashed its full-year profit forecast 57 percent as vehicle demand in the U.S., the world's biggest vehicle market, plunged and the yen gained against the dollar. Industrywide U.S. auto sales figures, expected to fall a 14th straight month, will be announced today.

Ford Motor Co. said Monday it plans to sell its automatic transmission factory near Bordeaux to HZ Holding France SAS . Ford would not say how much it is getting for the plant, which is in the French city of Blanquefort. But the company said there would be no change in employment at the plant. HZ Holding will invest over 200 million euros in the facility between now and 2013. The French company said it will expand production at the site to include components for the green energy sector. The factory will continue to supply automatic transmissions to Ford until 2011. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval, but is expected to be complete by April.

Italian January car sales dropped 33 percent, the largest decline in more than 15 years, amid the biggest slump in Italy's car market since 1993. Registrations fell for a 13th month, declining to 157,418 from 233,711 a year earlier, the Italian car manufacturers association, Unrae, said. Fiat SpA , Italy's largest carmaker, posted a 31 percent drop to 50,616 vehicles with its Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and Fiat brands.

France's government will considerably expand a 300 million-euro ($383 million) fund it created with PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault SA to help auto-parts makers as sales plunged because of the economic crisis. Added financing will be available to assist the most fragile auto-parts makers in particular, to help them through this crisis, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in a speech Monday. He also pledged massive help for manufacturers of cars and trucks. Peugeot and Renault, the country's largest carmakers, each pledged 100 million euros on Jan. 20 for the fund aimed at aiding suppliers. The French state is also providing 100 million euros. The program is part of a 1.3 billion-euro package that President Nicolas Sarkozy's government has pledged to the auto industry, a figure Fillon has said could reach 6 billion euros if companies promise not to close domestic plants.

Auto sales in Japan sank to a 37-year low in January as worried consumers held off on big buys, an industry group said Monday. Some 174,281 vehicles were sold for the month, a plunge of 27.9 percent from a year earlier and the biggest fall on record for January sales, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.