Southfield (WWJ)  -- The Big Three and other automakers saw their U.S. auto sales drop in June. 

Ford executives said U.S. sales tumbled 28 percent in June as high gas prices and a weak economy continued to cause trouble for the company.
  
For the first half of the year, Ford's sales were down 14 percent compared with the year-ago period.

The company blames the decline on high gas prices and low consumer confidence sending buyers to the sidelines. Ford reports steep drops in sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

"Clearly, the rapid rise in gasoline prices, and the resulting shift toward fuel efficient vehicles, has been challenging, but it also provides an opportunity.  In addition to adjusting our capacity and production plans to produce more cars and crossovers, we are introducing several new vehicles with class-leading fuel economy," said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president, Marketing and Communications in a statement.  

Chrysler LLC took a huge hit for the month with sales down 36 percent.
  
To help boost sales, Chrysler said it would extend its $2.99 per gallon gasoline price guarantee through July 31. The guarantee lasts for three years, with Chrysler paying the difference between $2.99 and the pump price for 12,000 miles per year. It had been scheduled to expire July 7.

Even with the promotion, which had been in effect since early May, Chrysler's car sales were off 48.5 percent, while truck sales were down 30.1 percent.

The company said in a statement the down sales figures reflect a contracting market, especially for pickup trucks and SUVs, and continued reductions in fleet sales.

GM Tuesday announced June sales declined 19-percent.  

"We're doing all we can to meet customer demand for our popular crossovers and cars, including increasing overtime or adding Saturday shifts at the plants where we build the Malibu, Aura, G6, Enclave, Outlook, Acadia and our full-size vans," said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing in a statement. 

"Hybrid demand and availability continues to build.  While the truck market continues to be impacted by the sudden rise in fuel prices, our offerings from Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac continue to lead their respective segments in fuel economy and that is a decided advantage for those shopping for those vehicles. 

For the first half of the year, GM sold 1.6 million vehicles in the U.S.

Toyota Tuesday reported sales of 193,234 units, a decrease of 11.5 percent from last June, on a daily selling rate basis. 

For the first half of the year, Toyota sales of 1.2 million vehicles.

"As the pendulum swings towards smaller, higher-mileage vehicles, we're well-poised to offer the right products at the right time," said Toyota President Jim Lentz in a statement. 

Daimler AG reported a 13 percent increase for the Mercedes-Benz Cars Division in the U.S. for June 2008.  22,121 units were sold.  

Volkswagen announced June 2008 sales of 23,208 units, a 0.3 percent increase over the June 2007.  VW reported the Passat wagon had its best sales month since January 2007 with sales up 25.9 percent over June 2007.