SAN FRANCISCO — Ford was the first of the major automakers Tuesday to deliver still more evidence of just how brutal it has become to sell big trucks and SUVs in the face of record gas prices and a slumping U.S. housing market.
General Motors and Chrysler followed up with even steeper declines, while Toyota — with its car-heavy lineup — managed to carve out more U.S. market share despite its lower numbers.
Ford saw its sales drop 16 percent in May to 217,998 cars and trucks, down from 259,470 a year earlier. But it wasn’t the car side to blame. Strong demand for the Focus and Fusion helped push car sales up 2.8 percent to 91,634 vehicles.
Trucks, as expected, were to blame.
The fuel-thirsty lineup shed 25.8 percent from a year ago to 126,364 vehicles. Sport utility vehicles plunged 44 percent, and vans dropped 29 percent. The F-Series pickup, the longtime best-selling vehicle in the U.S., saw its sales fall 30.6 percent to 42,973 trucks.
The harsh drop in the F-Series marks an end to its streak atop the sales charts, with Toyota’s Camry and Corolla sedans moving ahead for the first time ever.
Jim Farley, head of Ford marketing and communication, said, “We are, as an industry, catching up with the breathtaking choices that customers are now making.”
