SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - General Motors Corp. shares, already reeling from the widening credit crisis that has crippled Wall Street, fell as much as 33% on Thursday, dropping to levels last seen in the springtime of 1950.

To put the current price tag in perspective, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.47% , of which GM GM, -2.37% is a component, was trading at a mere 210 points back then.

In fact, the last time GM traded at around $4.65 a share, a typical car sold for just over $3,000, gasoline cost 20 cents a gallon, a six-pack of Coke could be yours for 37 cents, and houses went for $16,000.

GM finally finished down $2.15 at $4.76 while rival Ford Motor Co. F, -1.34% fared only slightly better, off 22% at $2.08.

David Healy, an analyst at Burnham securities, said that the stock has been overreacting to the all the negative headlines lately. "Things will get worse before they get better," he said. "But this company will get through a few more bad years and survive. This is not a stock for widows and orphans."

The latest bit of bearish news comes from one area of the company that had been a silver lining at a time of sluggish sales in GM's home market.

“ "We are facing an unprecedented set of economic challenges due to the global economic crisis." ” — Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe

GM's total European sales volume fell 1.9% to 1.62 million cars and trucks through the first three quarters of the year. A strong showing in Eastern Europe, paced by record results from the Chevy brand, was offset by a 10.7% drop in Western Europe.

The same factors that have slammed GM's U.S. sales are now stinging results in Western Europe, where a weakening economy, high gas prices and soaring raw material costs have made for an extremely difficult time to sell cars and turn profits.

"We are facing an unprecedented set of economic challenges due to the global economic crisis," Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe, said in a statement. "The credit crisis and inflation from surging oil and commodities prices have seriously hurt consumer confidence."

Still, the biggest challenges clearly remain in the core U.S. market, as potential car buyers continue to grapple with slumping home prices and the inability to tap credit.

GM vehicle sales fell 15.6% to 282,806 cars and trucks in September, which was actually better than most thanks to aggressive incentive spending. The overall industry endured a 26% drop a year ago, making for the eleventh straight month of declines and the first time since February 1993 that the total number dropped below one million. See full story.

J.D. Power and Associates fanned the selling flames on Thursday when it forecast total new light-vehicle sales in the U.S. of 13.6 million cars and trucks, down 16% from 16.1 million a year ago. The firm now sees 2009 sales dropping to 13.2 million vehicles.

"Buyers are both voluntarily and involuntarily exiting the U.S. new-vehicle market," analyst Jeff Schuster said in a note. The pain will move outside the U.S. as well, he added, explaining that the global auto market "may experience an outright collapse" in 2009.

Separately, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services placed GM's debt on CreditWatch with negative implications, meaning the automaker's credit, which is already in junk territory, could face another downgrade.

The move "reflects the rapidly weakening state of most global automotive markets, along with capital market conditions that will remain a serious challenge for the foreseeable future," credit analyst Robert Schulz said.