Drivers choose cars over trucks as auto sales plunge

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2008 | by Chris Woodyard

For a generation, pickups and SUVs have symbolized a rugged, oversized, no-holds-barred American lifestyle.

On Tuesday, automakers made it clear that consumers are hitting the brakes on their love affair with the hardiest, roomiest -- and thirstiest -- vehicles.

Epitomizing the changing of the guard: A passenger car unseated a pickup as the best-selling U.S. vehicle in monthly sales in the May industry sales figures out Tuesday.

It's the first month that's happened since December 1992, Ford Motor says.

Not only was Ford's F-Series pickup, a longtime sales king, passed by Honda's Civic, the May leader, but also by three more cars -- Toyota's Camry and Corolla, and Honda's Accord -- Autodata reported.

"It's a watershed month, a...