Ford, Toyota July Sales Fell as Buyers Shun Trucks

By Mike Ramsey

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.'s July U.S. sales declined as record gasoline prices damped demand for trucks and a slowing economy kept consumers away from dealer lots.

Ford reported a 15 percent drop from a year earlier, including a 22 percent slide for domestic-brand pickup trucks, sport-utility vehicles and vans. Toyota's sales fell 12 percent, with light trucks tumbling 27 percent. Nissan Motor Co. posted an 8.5 percent increase.

Ford, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, more dependent on trucks than Asia-based competitors such as Honda Motor Co., have led the industry's eight-month sales slide. Automakers haven't been able to meet demand for smaller, fuel-efficient cars as $4-a-gallon gasoline and a 1.9 percent second-quarter economic growth rate pinched consumers.

``The very difficult environment for auto sales continues to take a much heavier toll on the Big Three, which are being hit disproportionately by the consumer's dramatic shift away from traditional trucks towards more fuel-efficient vehicles,'' Brian Johnson, a Lehman Brothers analyst in Chicago, said in a note to investors yesterday.

Ford, Toyota July Sales Fell as Buyers Shun Trucks....