August Auto Sales: Ford

Ford sold 155,172 vehicles in August, down 26.5 percent from 211,224 in the same month last year. The drop included a 31 percent decrease in fleet sales, Ford said.

Sales of light trucks and SUVs dropped 32.6 percent to 99,001 units from 146,849 in August 2007.

Demand for the company's top-selling F-Series trucks fell 41.6 percent to 40,429 vehicles, while sales of the Explorer SUV tumbled 53.9 percent to 5,502. Sales of the Escape crossover rose 17.3 percent to 14,025 units.

Car sales dropped 12.7 percent to 56,171 vehicles from 64,375. Sales of the Focus rose 23.4 percent to 16,387, while Fusion sales dropped 27.5 percent to 9,073.

Ford said it expects the second half of the year to be tougher than the first. The automaker cut its second-half production forecast by 50,000 units to 890,000.

For the first eight months of this year, Ford sales fell 15.7 percent to 1.5 million vehicles from 1.7 million at the same time last year.

Ford shares rose 7 cents to $4.58 in midday trading.