DETROIT (AP) – General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. each said Tuesday their July vehicle sales plummeted from last year, when heavy discounts fueled a near record month for the auto industry.
Most of the decline was in trucks and sport utility vehicles, the high-margin items on which domestic manufacturers depend.
GM, the world's largest automaker, said its sales fell 22.2 percent, with trucks falling 31.2 percent and cars inching down 2.7 percent.
At Ford, sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles dropped 35.2 percent from a year earlier as trucks sank 44.8 percent, while cars slipped 6.7 percent. Sales of F-Series pickup trucks, long the country's best-selling vehicle and the company's most important vehicle, skidded 45.6 percent.
Paul Ballew, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis, said the year-over-year decline was in line with expectations after ''inflated'' sales in the summer of 2005.
Ford said it was heartened by growing retail demand for its new mid-size sedans, the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr. Retail sales for the vehicles were up 18 percent over June, the company said.
The nation's second-largest automaker said demand for the sedans should remain high, as 2007 models, with additional safety features and optional all-wheel drive, hit showrooms. They went into production Monday.
But Ford's lineup of new vehicles is thin this year compared to its competitors. In the fall, it is scheduled to introduce two crossovers, the Ford Edge and the Lincoln MKX. The company hopes the more fuel-efficient SUV alternatives will help it hold on to market share as high gas prices cause consumer tastes to shift.