It seems that everyone is getting caught up in the auto slowdown. As you may know, Toyota's U.S sales and marketing headquarters is based in Torrance. Honda's North American headquarters is also based in Torrance.

Toyota sales tumble 21.4 pct; Ford down 27.9 pct.

DETROIT (AP) -- High gasoline prices and a weak economy took a toll on U.S. sales of Toyota Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co. vehicles in June, with Toyota reporting a 21.4 percent decline and Ford dropping 27.9 percent.

Industry analysts had predicted June auto sales could drop by double-digits to their lowest monthly rate in 16 years.

Toyota, however, had been expected to fare better because it has a lineup more tilted toward small fuel-efficient cars and crossover vehicles.

But it didn't. Toyota said Tuesday its car sales dropped 9.4 percent for the month, while its truck sales slipped 38.9 percent. For the first half of the year, Toyota sales were down 6.8 percent.

Ford shares sank to a new 52-week low, while rival General Motors Corp. shares were trading near their lowest level in more than a half century.

Dearborn-based Ford blamed the latest sales decline on high gas prices and low consumer confidence, which sent buyers to the sidelines. It reported steep drops in June sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, including a 41 percent year-over-year decline for the F-Series pickup, a perennial best-seller, and a 52 percent drop for the Ford Explorer SUV.

U.S. auto sales had already fallen for seven straight months as of May, the longest period of consecutive monthly drops in eight years, according to the auto information Web site Edmunds.com.

When customers do buy, they're picking smaller cars, crossovers and hybrids. The demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles has been a boon to Japanese automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., which rely less heavily on trucks and sport utility vehicles than the Detroit Three.

For the first half of the year, Ford's sales were down 14 percent compared with the year-ago period.

Ford said sales of its smallest car, the Ford Focus, rose 28 percent in the first six months of the year, although Focus sales fell in June. The automaker said last month it plans to increase production of the Focus as well as the Mercury Mariner and Ford Escape small SUVs.

Ford shares tumbled 32 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $4.49 in afternoon trading after sinking to a 52-week low of $4.41 earlier in the session. They have traded as high as $9.64 over the past year.

The Associated Press reports unadjusted figures, calculating the percentage change in the total number of vehicles sold in one month compared with the same month a year earlier. Some automakers report percentages adjusted for sales days. There were 24 sales days last month and 27 in June 2007.