DETROIT - Who's the best swimmer on the Titanic? Turns out to be General Motors, which held on to first place in U.S. sales last month (Toyota slid past it in total global sales last year) with just an 18.5-percent drop in sales over June 2007. It sold 72,000 more units than Toyota, which suffered a 21.1-percent drop from a year ago. Both these numbers are based on actual declines; the percentage drop isn't as bad when you account for the fact that June 2008 had 24 selling days, compared with 27 selling days in June 2007. Still, everybody's results were dismal.

GM says it upped market share to 21-percent retail, 22-percent overall.

As consumers avoided trucks and body-on-frame SUVs in droves, they couldn't find enough small, midsize four-cylinder and hybrid models to buy, GM, Ford Motor Company and Toyota claim. For example, Toyota division light trucks fell 31.5 percent, with the Tundra off 34 percent, to 12,144 units. Toyota Prius sales fell a whopping 39.8 percent, to 15,011 last month, "with limited availability," which proves that Toyota doesn't have any more insight than the Detroit Three on where the market was going this year. What it does have is plenty more cash than GM, Ford or Chrysler to wait out the downturn.

GM credits its 72-hour sale at the end of June for helping build its numbers. Is that why analysts who predicted Toyota would become America's favorite automaker last month underestimated GM? No, says sales analyst Mike DiGiovanni; without the 0-percent financing sale (a sizeable hit to GM's bottom line) analysts predicted GM would drop 27- to 28-percent, to about 235,000 cars and trucks. That's still well ahead of Toyota. Chevy Malibu, Cadillac CTS and Buick Enclave sales remain strong. All Pontiac models (there are no big Pontiac SUVs) posted sales gains.

Ford estimates June sales totaled an annual rate of 13.9-million units, while GM rounds it up to 14.0 million. GM says that if automakers had had a sufficient number of small cars in stock, the Seasonably Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) would have reached 14.3 million, or about 40,000 extra sales for the entire industry, last month.

As if to prove that, American Honda (which includes Acura), has no V-8s and has no body-on-frame trucks. It posted a 1.1-percent gain (a 13.8-percent gain, if you account for three fewer selling days) to 142,539 cars and trucks. Cars were up 34.2 percent versus last June.

Total Honda/Acura sales again tops Chrysler LLC, which suffered a 36-percent drop to 117,457 cars and trucks. Every Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep model was down (Sebring off 50 percent, Avenger off 49 percent, though much of that was fleet sales) except Jeep Patriot, up 6 percent to 4,889, Dodge Caravan, up 52 percent to 14,214 and Viper, up 259 percent to 79 units. Dodge sold 5,162 Journeys and 1,024 Challengers. Chrysler President Jim Press says the company is in a much better position than it was last year, and has higher profits and cash-on-hand thanks to weeding out poor-selling models and cutting costs. Chrysler will be in a good position when the auto market recovers, Press maintains, answering recent rumors that Cerberus was ready to send its automaker to bankruptcy court.

Ford Motor sold 167,090, off 28 percent from a year ago. It had production constraints, too, with sales of Focus, which it touts as retail America's favorite car, off 5.5-percent, to 17,950. Blame both lower fleet sales and lack of product. And there aren't enough four-bangers. The four-cylinder take-rate on the Ford Fusion is up 14 percent from a year ago, to 70 percent. For the Escape, it's up 13 percent, to about half. Transaction prices on the hybrid Escape and Mercury Mariner are up, and the two models began the month with a tiny, 10-day supply. "The math is starting to change in the hybrid world," Ford's Jim Farley says.

Automakers also reported their half-year sales, and GM touted good sales results overseas. I'll write about that Wednesday. Meanwhile, here is how the majors fared:

1. General Motors       265,937 -18.5%
2. Toyota Motors         193,234 -21.1%
3. Ford Motor               167,090 -28.0%
4. American Honda      142,539  +1.1%
5. Chrysler LLC           117,457 -36.0%

*NOTE: Hyundai and Kia report sales separately, but they're part of the same company. Hyundai was up 1.3 percent, to 50,033 units (its best month in the U.S. ever) and Kia was up 7.6 percent, to 28,292. Combined, at 78,325, they outsold Nissan/Infiniti, which was off 17.7 percent, to 75,847.