DETROIT--Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales tumbled 27.9% in June as high gas prices and a weak economy continued to cause trouble for Ford and the rest of the auto industry.

Ford (F) was the first automaker to report sales data Tuesday. Analysts had predicted June auto sales could drop by double-digits to their lowest monthly rate in 16 years. Ford shares sank to a new 52-week low, while rival General Motors Corp. (GM) shares are 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% year-over-year decline for the F-Series pickup, a perennial best-seller, and a 52% 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% compared with the year-ago period.
Ford said sales of its smallest car, the Ford Focus, rose 28% 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%, 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