NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Major U.S. automakers posted mixed results Monday in U.S. new vehicle sales for February as they struggled with both a blizzard during the holiday sales weekend and plunging consumer confidence.

Industry leader General Motors Corp. posted a sharp drop from record sales a year ago. No. 2 Ford Motor Co. sales were roughly flat with a year earlier as increased fleet sales to corporations, primarily rental car companies, made up for most of the decline in consumer purchases. And No. 3 Chrysler Group posted a 4 percent decline from a year earlier, though sales showed a healthy gain from a weak January.

GM sold 331,167 cars and light trucks, down 19 percent from a year earlier. The decline was broad based, with only Cadillac, Saab and Saturn posting increased sales. Car sales declined 16 percent to 144,618 while light trucks, which include pickups, sport/utility vehicles and minivans, were off 21 percent to 186,549. Still, GM regained the lead in light truck sales that it lost to Ford last month.

GM also said it will keep its first-quarter production plans unchanged from previous guidance, but that its initial second-quarter production will be 1.39 million vehicles, down from 1.55 million a year earlier. It attributed the decline to consumer and economic uncertainty as well as the effect of product start-ups and plant conversions. It does plan modest increases in production at overseas plants, though.

Ford said it is delaying its second-quarter production guidance due to market uncertainty, but Ford spokesman George Pipas confirmed its production also will be lower.

In February, Ford sold 267,729 cars and light trucks, down only 140 vehicles from the year-earlier period. Cars showed a 0.5 percent increase while light truck sales slipped 0.4 percent.

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Ford cited the Presidents Day holiday snow storm that hit the Middle Atlantic and Northeast, as well as surveys pointing to a decline in consumer confidence, as factors in making the month a challenging one for auto sales.

"Considering all that, our sales were pretty good and our market share was higher for the second month in a row," said Jim O'Connor, Ford's vice president of North America marketing, sales and service.

The core Ford brand posted a narrow 1.9 percent increase as a 9 percent gain in car sales overcame a slight decline in light truck sales. Mercury, Lincoln and Jaguar saw sales decline, while Volvo posted an 8.3 percent gain.

Ford saw its fleet sales to corporate customers rise 19 percent to about 83,000 vehicles, offsetting about a 7 percent decline in consumer purchases in the month. Much of the gain came from increased sales of the Taurus sedan, which posted a 31 percent overall gain in sales despite flat retail sales.

Chrysler, the North American unit of German automaker DaimlerChrysler AG, said sales fell 4 percent to 170,614 vehicles, with light truck sales off 5 percent to 127,368 while car sales fell 2 percent to 43,246. The company's luxury Mercedes-Benz unit reported an 8 percent gain in U.S. sales to 16,090 vehicles, giving it a February sales record for the division.

The company's Chrysler brand had a 14 percent decline while Jeep SUVs fell 10 percent. But Dodge sales, which are bigger than Chrysler and Jeep combined, posted a 1 percent gain.

Among Asian automakers, Honda Motor Co. (HMC: up $0.21 to $18.58, Research, Estimates) reported a sales gain, lifted by two SUV models -- the Pilot and the Element, which were not available a year earlier. Overall Honda and Acura sales gained 14 percent to 98,809 vehicles.

It helped it to narrow the gap on No. 1 Japanese automaker Toyota (TM: up $1.03 to $48.51, Research, Estimates), which saw U.S. sales slip 1.1 percent in the month to 124,683 vehicles. Leading Korean automaker Hyundai saw its U.S. sales fall 3.5 percent in the month to 27,508 vehicles, although it gained on January sales.

Shares of both GM (GM: down $0.66 to $33.11, Research, Estimates) and Ford (F: down $0.25 to $8.07, Research, Estimates) were lower Monday following the announcement, while U.S. shares of DaimlerChrysler (DCX: up $0.05 to $30.62, Research, Estimates) gained in New York trading.