DETROIT - Blame the Sunbelt states. The housing bubble that is bursting in warm, enticing states such as California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada has been killing sales for Detroit’s automakers in some of their most important markets, said automotive and economic experts.

So far this year, auto sales nationwide are down 8.5 percent for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG, which is exploring a sale of its Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler Group.

California and Florida alone - usually the No. 1 and No. 2 automotive markets in the United States - are experiencing such weak housing markets that they are largely responsible for that decline, as well as the nation’s overall 2.4 percent decrease in auto sales, said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore.

"The housing market and especially home values are behind much of the auto industry’s stumbling," Spinella said.

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