Detroit-3 fighting to turn themselves around as sales for light trucks, SUVs decline

GM, Chrysler both saw steep drops in light-truck sales in Feb

Ford also saw a drop, but moderated by gains in crossover sales

High gas prices, tough economic conditions pushing consumers toward smaller, less expensive vehicles

Detroit-3 seeing promising smaller vehicle sales, but impact on bottom line not as great for those vehicles

Pickup truck sales closely tied to housing market, which has been hit hard

GM reported Feb light truck sales decline of 19.2%

Chrysler saw light truck sales decline of 22.4% in Feb

Ford's light truck sales declined 5.3% in Feb

"On a Focus, [Ford is] lucky to break even. On an Explorer without too many incentives, you're talking a $5,000-$6,000 profit a vehicle." -- Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis, Edmunds.com

"The housing situation has a direct impact on the light truck demand. There's some hope that the housing market will start improving in the second half of 2008, but in the first half we don't really see any improvement." -- Toprak