Ford Motor Co.

Ford Motor Co. (F) said Thursday its April U.S. sales fell as high gas prices and the ongoing slump in consumer confidence cut into demand for sport utility vehicles and light trucks.

Ford sales of light vehicles fell 12.1% to 200,109 from 227,619 in April 2007.

Adjusted for two additional sales days in March of this year compared with last, the automaker's sales fell 18.9%.

Sales of light trucks fell 18% to 146,887 units from 120,196, as demand for the company's top selling F-Series pickups dropped 21% to 44,813.

Sales of passenger cars fell 1% to 79,913 from 80,732, despite a 43.5% jump in demand for its Focus small car to 23,850 units.

Ford said the drop in April sales included a 32% decrease in sales to daily rental companies. Retail sales fell 7%, the automaker said.

So far this year, Ford sales are down 9.8% to 782,116 vehicles from 867,374 at the same time last year.

Adjusted for one additional selling day in the first four months of this year compared with last, Ford sales are down 10.7%.

Ford shares rose 17 cents to $8.43 in afternoon trading.

General Motors Corp. 

General Motors Corp. (GM) said Thursday its April U.S. sales tumbled on a steep drop in demand for light trucks and sport utility vehicles.

GM sold a total of 257,638 light vehicles in April, down 16.2% from 307,554 in the same month last year.

Adjusted for two additional sales days in this month compared with last, GM sales fell 22.7%.

Sales of light trucks dropped 26.7% to 136,814 units from 186,545 in the same month of 2007, while car sales edged down 0.2% to 120,824 from 121,009.

So far this year, GM sales are down 12.3% to 1.1 million units from 1.2 million at the same time last year. Adjusted for one additional sales day in the first four months of this year compared with last, GM sales are down 13.1%.

GM shares rose 78 cents, or 3.4%, to $23.98 in afternoon trading.

Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc.

Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. (TM) said Thursday its April U.S. sales rose, as higher demand for small cars and hybrids offset a drop in light truck sales.

Toyota sold a total of 217,700 vehicles, up 3.4% from 210,457 in the same month last year.

Adjusted for two additional selling days in this month compared with last, Toyota sales fell 4.5%.

Sales of passenger cars rose 11.9% to 134,863 units from 120,556 in the same month last year, while light-truck sales fell 7.9% to 82,837 from 89,901.

So far this year, Toyota sales are down 3.3% to 789,448 units from 816,312 at the same time last year.

Adjusted for one additional selling day in the first four months of this year compared with last, Toyota sales are down 4.2%.

Toyota's U.S. shares rose $1.56 to $103.06 in afternoon trading.

Audi of America Inc. 

Audi of America Inc. said Thursday its sales fell 4.6% in April, led by a decline in the Q7 full-size sport utility vehicle.

The automaker sold 7,730 vehicles in the U.S. during the month, compared with 8,106 in April 2007. Adjusted for two additional selling days this year, sales fell 12%.

Sales of the Audi Q7 fell to 1,203 vehicles, from 1,897 in April 2007.

So far this year, total sales are down 2.9% to 28,286 vehicles, compared with 29,134 in the prior-year period. Adjusted for an extra selling day this year, sales are down 3.9%.

Mitsubishi Motors

Mitsubishi Motors said Thursday its April U.S. sales fell on steep drops in demand for both cars and light trucks.

Mitsubishi sold a total of 8,878 vehicles in April, down 26.3% from 12,047 in the same month of 2007.

Adjusted for two additional selling days in April 2008 compared with April 2007, Mitsubishi sales fell 32%.

Car sales fell 19.2% to 6,674 from 8,260, while demand for sport utility vehicles dropped 44.4% to 1,934 from 3,479.

So far this year, Mitsubishi sales are down 17.7% to 35,959 vehicles from 43,692 at the same time last year.

Adjusted for one additional sales day in the first four months of this year compared with last, Mitsubishi sales are down 18.5%.

American Honda Motor Co.

American Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it expects to post an increase in April U.S. sales but was unable to provide specific figures for the month because of technical difficulties.

Honda said it expects its sales to total more than 134,000 vehicles, up from 126,419 in April 2007.

Honda division sales are expected to total more than 121,500 units, up from 111,226 a year ago.

The automaker's Acura division is expected to post April sales of at least 12,900 vehicles, down from 15,193 units in the 2007 period.

Honda's U.S. shares rose 55 cents to $32.30 in afternoon trading.

Chrysler LLC

Chrysler LLC said Thursday its April U.S. sales tumbled on a steep drops in demand for both cars and light trucks.

Chrysler sold a total of 147,751 vehicles in April, down 23.5% from 193,104 in April 2007.

Adjusted for two additional selling days in this month compared with last, Chrysler sales fell 29.4%.

Sales of passenger cars slid 19.3% to 39,564 from 49,054, as sales of the 300 dropped 36.8% to 5,771 and PT Cruiser demand dropped 25.1% to 5,807.

Demand for light trucks fell 24.9% to 108,187 from 144,050, as sales of the company's Jeep brand sport utility vehicles dipped 18.1% and sales of its Ram pickup fell 23.2% to 24,206.

So far this year, Chrysler sales are down 17.6% to 601,622 units from 730,353 at the same time last year.

Adjusted for one additional selling day in the first four months of this year compared with last, Chrysler sales are down 18.4%.

Nissan North America Inc. 

Nissan North America Inc. said Thursday its April U.S. sales rose, as increased demand for passenger cars outpaced a drop in light truck sales.

Nissan sold a total of 75,855 vehicles in April, up 6.7% from 71,124 in the same month last year.

Adjusted for two additional sales days in this month compared with last, Nissan sales fell 1.6%.

Car sales rose 20.3% to 48,990 vehicles from 40,714, as sales of the Versa jumped 36.9% to 6,865 and sales of the Sentra rose 36% to 8,842.

Demand for light trucks fell 11.7% to 26,865 units from 30,410, as Titan sales dropped 51.1% to 2,407 and Xterra sales dropped 37.1% to 1,916.

Sales of the company's Infiniti brand vehicles fell 4.1% to 9,537.

So far this year, Nissan sales are down 9.7% to 135,374 vehicles from 149,896 at the same time next year.

Adjusted for one additional sales day in the first four months of this year compared with last, Nissan sales are down 16.6%.

Nissan's U.S. shares rose 2 cents to $17.75 in afternoon trading.

Subaru of America Inc.

Subaru of America Inc. said Thursday its U.S. sales surged 22% in April, driven by sales of its Forester sport utility vehicle.

The company reported total sales of 16,771 vehicles during the month, compared with 13,786 in April 2007. Adjusted to reflect two additional selling days this April, sales rose 12%.

Forester sales leaped 49% to 5,339 vehicles during the month, from 3,580 a year earlier.

In the first four months of this year, sales have risen 2% to 57,652 vehicles. Adjusted for an extra selling day this year, sales are up 0.6%.

Volkswagen of America Inc.

Volkswagen of America Inc. said Thursday its U.S. sales rose last month on higher volumes of its popular Eos models.

Sales rose slightly 19,145 from 19,086 in April last year.

Volkswagen sold 1,663 Eos models last month compared to 1,142 in April 2007. Sales of Golf-Rabbit vehicles increased last month to 3,381 from 3,097 in the year-earlier month.

Adjusted for two extra selling days last month compared with a year ago, sales fell 7.4%.

Adjusted for one extra selling day in the first four months of this year compared with the same period last year, sales fell 0.2%.

Hyundai Motor America 

Hyundai Motor America said Thursday its April U.S. sales rose slightly on strong demand for its more fuel-efficient models.

Hyundai sold a total of 39,280 vehicles, up 0.4% from 39,137 in April 2007. Adjusted for two additional selling days in April of this year compared with last, Hyundai sales fell 7.4%.

Sales of the company's Elantra model rose 22% to 9,981 units and demand for the Sonata increased 5.4% to 11,001.

So far this year, Hyundai sales are down 6.1% to 134,618 vehicles from 143,342 in the same period last year.

Adjusted for one additional selling day in the first four months of this year compared with last, Hyundai sales are down 7%.

Mercedes-Benz USA

Mercedes-Benz USA, a unit of Germany's Daimler AG, said Thursday its sales in April fell 3%, led by a decline in R-Class crossover models.

The automaker sold 20,271 vehicles in the U.S. during the month, compared with 20,895 in April 2007. Adjusted for two additional selling days this year, sales fell 10.5%.

Sales of the R-Class crossover fell to 735 last month, compared with 2,382 a year earlier.

So far this year, total sales are up 1.4% to 77,918 vehicles from 76,880 in the prior-year period. Adjusted for an extra selling day this year, sales are up a mode modest 0.4%.