Car, truck registrations show 43 percent drop in California

   The California New Car Dealers Association announced that registrations of new cars and light trucks declined 43 percent in the first quarter of 2009 versus the same period a year earlier.  California new vehicle registrations totaled 231,726 units in the first quarter of the year, well below the nearly 600,000 total recorded in the third quarter of 2005.  If the trend continues, the state is in danger of might selling fewer than 1 million units might be sold in the state this year -- something that has not happened since 1975.