sport utility vehicles

One of the first carmakers to report U.S. monthly sales, Ford said its sales of cars and crossover vehicles increased 18 percent, while trucks and sport-utility vehicles fell 19 percent.

Pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles were big sellers under the Cash for Clunkers program despite the federal government's focus on replacing gas guzzlers with more fuel-efficient cars.

As of Friday, car buyers in the U.S. had signed deals to trade in 358,851 clunkers for new vehicles, getting rebates of up to $4,500 from the federal government.

Most of the trades have been pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. The top 10 vehicles purchased by those making clunker trades:

The new standards require passenger cars to average 30.2 miles a gallon. Light trucks, which include pickups and sport utility vehicles, would have to average 24.1 miles per gallon.

Robert L. Nardelli said he fears consumers would shun Chrysler’s cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles if the company sought court protection.