General Motors and Ford Motor, the nation's two largest automakers, both said demand for new vehicles last month was off 5 percent from a year ago, even as Japanese competitors Nissan and Honda rode a slew of new products to double-digit sales gains.

No. 1 GM said truck sales were off 4.6 percent and car sales were down 5.5 percent. Sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brand trucks were up 3 percent at No. 2 Ford, but that demand was not nearly enough to offset a 22 percent decline in car sales -- an all-too-familiar trend for Ford this year.

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