Finding nuggets of positivity amid Toyota's forgettable June sales

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus RX sports utility vehicle is seen in an undated company photo. (Toyota handout)

Picking through Toyota's suffering U.S. sales performance in June, observers find many well known brands which have suffered at the hands of a down economy but nuggets of positivity in the carmaker's lineup will reveal gains for its Lexus RX sports utility vehicle, Prius hybrid and RAV4, a small SUV.

Overall sales for the carmaker in June fell 34.6 percent to 131,654 units sold, Toyota announced today.

However, sales of the Lexus RX rose 21.3 percent to 7,355 units in June. Prius sales were up 6.1 percent to 12,998 units while the RAV4 gained 0.6 percent to 10,054 vehicles sold.

While the company's bestselling vehicles continue to be Camry and Corolla, their June sales were down 39 percent and 54.6 percent respectively to 26,394 and 19,935 units sold. Tacoma truck sales fell23.7 percent while Tundra slumped 51.4 percent to 5,187.

The Japanese automaker has had a forgettable 2009 so far, with total sales in the first half down nearly 38 percent to 770,449 units sold.