Chrysler LLC's July financial report placed it at the head of a grim list of big losses for the automotive industry with a decline of 28.8 percent to only 98,109 vehicles sold.

Truck sales for Chrysler were down 29 percent for the month mirroring an overall 25.8 percent decline for the genre across the industry, a clear indication of the degree to which consumers are abandoning gas guzzlers in droves.

Industry-wide, however, car sales were flat for July while Chrysler endured a brutal 28.2 percent drop. Industry analysts point to the weakness of Chrysler's car line-up and the extent to which the company is now paying for its focus on trucks and SUVs.

Overall vehicle sales for the entire automotive industry were down 13.2 percent in July with just 1.14 million units moved. That brings the decrease for the first seven months of 2008 to 10.5 percent.

Chrysler co-President Jim Press, in a conference call with the press, was quoted by Automotive News. "We'd like to be judged as a company on how well we do when we're under pressure," he said. "The hardest steel comes from the hottest fire. We're dancing on the sun."

Because Chrysler is a privately owned company, the details of its calculations of a $1.1 billion operating profit for the first six months of 2008 are not available for public examination.