Pickups: Down, but not out; GM, Toyota hope workhorses won't join SUV slump.(sport utility vehicle)(General Motors Corp)

Byline: Amy Wilson

U.S. sales of full-sized pickups are down, and trade-in data suggest owners are moving out of pickups into cheaper, more fuel-efficient vehicles. But don't call it "SUV Collapse: The Sequel'' just yet.

Through July, full-sized pickup sales were down 15.3 percent, and some pickup owners are switching to smaller vehicles. The defection rate peaked in April, when gasoline prices spiked to $3 a gallon.

But data from J.D. Power and Associates suggest that the migration to smaller vehicles has eased in the past two months. And the full-sized pickup's status as America's workhorse should keep it from tanking as badly as SUVs.

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