U.S. auto sales fell about 17 percent in September to their lowest level in three years as terrorist attacks unnerved consumers and airlines and other U.S. businesses planned to shed more than 120,000 jobs, according to Bloomberg News.

Sales fell 16 percent at General Motors Corp., 19 percent at Ford Motor Co. and 28 percent at DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit, based on the

average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Japanese makers including Toyota Motor Corp. and European rivals will also show declines

when September sales are reported Oct. 2, analysts said.

Showrooms across the U.S. were practically deserted in the days after hijackers crashed

jetliners into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Daily sales fell as much as 37 percent, surveys by J.D. Power & Associates showed, then improved after General Motors, Ford and Chrysler began offering no-interest financing

on all their models in the last weeks of the month.