In the face of a 6.1 percent August sales gain for GM, Ford Motor Co. saw its numbers slide 14.4 percent.

Even standard strong selling vehicles like the F-150 truck and the well-loved Mustang could not save Ford for the slide while buyers of light trucks buoyed FM.

Sales figures for other automakers were up and down. Chrysler LLC reported a 5.6 percent decrease while Toyota, a perpetual strong performer, lost only 2.8.

Nissan was up 6.3 percent, Honda 4.7 percent, and Mercedes-Benz USA 1.8 percent.

Overall U.S. sales for the month of August stood at 1,478,604 in comparison to 1,486,824 for 2006. That's a decline of approximately 0.6 percent. Sales for the year are down 2.8 percent.

The industry is, however, suffering the fallout of the weak housing market and precarious sub-prime lending situation, a scenario likely to get worse before it gets better.

An indicator of this potential downward trend can be found in Ford's sales figures for the Mustang, which usually sells well in the spring and summer.

For August, Mustang sales were down 35 percent and the popular F-series of trucks fell 9.9 percent.

Interestingly, Ford blamed itself, saying hard sell incentives to clear the 2006 models lowered sales.

The company is, however, offering rebates of up to $1,000 on 2007 and 2008 models in September as well as a cash rebate and interest-free financing for the F-150.