July was a tough month in the US automarket. Despite an extra couple of selling days during the month, according to popular industry website, Autoblog.com, only Mercedes-Benz, MINI and Nissan sold more cars in July 2008 than in July 2007.

Based on the Daily Sales Rate (DSR), Autoblog reports that Chrysler's sales slipped by 34 per cent over this time last year. GM was not far behind on 32.4 per cent and Ford was down 21.5 per cent. Even Toyota saw its volumes drop by 18.7 per cent and Nissan only just posted positive growth, 0.12 per cent for the month.

Ford at least saw the F-150 retake its mantle of top-selling vehicle in the US during the month, but compensating for that, the company's Volvo brand had a horror month, with a year-on-year freefall of 46.2 per cent -- that figure based on total sales for the month, not Autoblog's DSR.

And if Ford thinks things are looking ordinary, at least the blue oval doesn't own Hummer, which lost 65 per cent of the sales accrued during July 2007.

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