RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - AutoNation Inc. said Thursday it swung to a loss in the third quarter, with customers finding it increasingly difficult to get a car loan and the overall economy heading south.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based AutoNation, the nation's largest automotive retailer, said it lost $1.41 billion, or $7.99 per share, compared with a profit of $72.1 million, or 37 cents per share, a year ago. It recorded non-cash charges for goodwill and franchise impairments of $1.46 billion after-tax.

Revenue fell 21 percent to $3.5 billion from $4.5 billion in the year-ago period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected earnings of 29 cents per share on revenue of $3.88 billion. Those estimates typically exclude charges.

Shares fell 12 cents to $5.97 in early trading Thursday. The stock has traded between $3.97 and $19.59 over the last 52 weeks.

The company said the tough vehicle market and the drop in its share price resulted in the charges. Excluding those items, AutoNation said it earned $44 million, or 25 cents per share.

Results for the quarter were "negatively impacted by the credit crisis that escalated in September into a full blown credit panic," Chief Executive Mike Jackson said in a news release.

"This created a credit freeze that broke consumer confidence and, along with a continued housing depression, accelerated the decline in the U.S. economy and auto retail market," Jackson said. "We expect the rest of 2008 will continue to be challenging."

Jackson said the company remains in compliance with all of the financial covenants, quelling worries from analysts over the last few weeks, and has reduced debt by $589 million so far this year.

Despite the sales drop, AutoNation said it fared better than others in the industry. Industry wide new vehicle sales fell about 31 percent, while AutoNation's dropped just 24 percent, according to data compiled by CNW Research that was cited by AutoNation.

Slowdowns in industry sales have hit automakers hard, forcing jobs cuts and other reductions in hopes of surving the dramatic downturn. Leading automakers say some sort of government funding is necessary to bail out the troubled industry.

AutoNation said due to changes in the auto retail market, it altered its management approach by dividing its business into three operating segments — domestic, import and premium luxury.

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