Ford, Toyota and Chrysler report lower sales

Chrysler LLC said on Tuesday its U.S. sales fell 25 percent in May from a year earlier on an unadjusted basis, under pressure from declining demand for large pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Chrysler said its sales fell to 148,747 vehicles in May for its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands, down from 199,393 a year earlier. Car sales fell 33 percent and truck sales fell 22 percent, it said. The company ended May with inventory of 412,009 vehicles, or a 75-day supply, down 14 percent from a year earlier.

Ford Motor Company's US sales fell 16 percent in May to 217,998 vehicles amid a sharp drop in demand for gasoline-guzzling truck and sport utility vehicles, the automaker said Tuesday. Car sales, however, rose a monthly 3.8 percent to 85,542 from April amid strong demand for more fuel-efficient models but were still five percent lower than May 2007 amid a general economic slowdown. "Our products and our dealers are getting us back in the car business," said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president of marketing and communications. Our small and mid-size cars are outperforming the industry, and we're only just beginning."

Toyota Motor Corp.’s May sales were not immune to the shifting buying patterns of U.S. consumers as the world’s No. 2 automaker reported a sales decline of 4.3% to 257,404 vehicles. Sales of all Toyota brand cars and trucks fell 2.7% to 230,811 vehicles while sales of Lexus fell 16.6% to 26,593. And then there was this surprise for Toyota: Sales of the Prius, its highest volume hybrid vehicle, fell 27.5% to 15,011 vehicles. “We just didn’t have the supply, May of this year versus May of last year," said Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota division.