Generous cash rebates and zero percent interest loan deals helped make 2001 the second-best auto sales year in history.

Automakers sold 17.2 million cars and trucks in 2001, compared with 17.4 million in 2000. But without incentives, especially zero percent financing offered after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the totals likely would have been quite different.

Without the incentives, sales probably would have been just 15 million, according to industry analysts.

For the first time ever, trucks -- pickups, sport utility vehicles and minivans --

outsold cars, taking 50.9 percent of the market, according to Autodata.

General Motors Corp. sales were up 7 percent in December from a year ago but down 1 percent for

the year. GM says the 2.6 million trucks it sold last year was best ever for any automaker. But GM's car sales were down 19 percent in December, 10 percent for the year.

Ford's sales were flat in December from a year ago but off 6 percent for the year. Car sales plummeted 25 percent in December. But the F-Series pickup retained its title as the best-selling vehicle in the United States, now a 20-year record.

DaimlerChrysler sales jumped 5.6 percent in

December but fell 9.1 percent for the year. Chrysler began a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty program that has helped sales. But its

market share fell to 14.4 percent in 2001 from 15.7 percent, largely because of slow sales of its large sedans.