Ford revealed that sales in its heartland US market had fallen 28 per cent last month to 174,000 compared with June 2007. The brand’s heavy fuel consuming sport utility vehicle suffered a 50 per cent collapse in sales.

Toyota, which is expected to take the title of the world’s biggest carmaker from General Motors (GM) this year, suffered a 21.4 per cent drop in US sales to 193,200 vehicles.

GM’s sales fell 18.5 per cent to 265,900 although the carmaker said that some of its divisions, such as Chevrolet and Cadillac, had performed well. GM has cut its third quarter production forecast by 12 per cent to 900,000 vehicles. Mark LaNeve, vice-president of the carmaker’s North American vehicle sales, said: “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. We expect our market share performance to be very strong compared with April and May.” Adjusting for three fewer sales days in this year’s June compared with last year, GM’s sales were down 8 per cent.

Jim Farley, Ford group vice president, said: “Consumer fundamentals and consumer confidence deteriorated as the first half unfolded. The economy enters the second half of the year with a notable absence of momentum and a high degree of uncertainty."

Sales of Ford’s US marques - Lincoln and Mercury - also fell 28 per cent while its European brand Volvo dropped 27 per cent. Earlier this year Ford sold its UK divisions Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata Motors, to try to bolster its balance sheet after suffering a $12.7 billion loss in 2006.

Porsche, the iconic sports carmaker, suffered a 19 per cent fall in sales in North America last year, taking its total sales down to 2,650 units. It said that sales for the year to date in the US market had fallen more than 15 per cent.

In Italy, new car registrations fell 19.5 per cent to 184,275 units in June, according to government figures. The main Italian manufacturer Fiat saw sales fall 16.5 per cent and its chief executive Sergio Marchionne said that June had been as “disastrous” as May for sales.

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