Passenger cars outsold light trucks last month for the first time in at least two decades as soaring gasoline prices sent consumers scrambling to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

That dealt a major blow to Detroit's Big Three automakers, which are still heavily dependent on sales of trucks and SUVs.

Ford Motor Co. posted the smallest decline among the Detroit manufacturers. Including its foreign brands, Ford's sales fell 12.1 percent, from 227,431 vehicles to 200,007, dropping its share of the market to 16 percent.

"Out of the Detroit Three, Ford is probably the best positioned right now."

That is because it has a stronger lineup of small cars and crossovers, with more in the pipeline.

"In 2004, 70 percent of Ford's retail sales were trucks and sport utility vehicles," said George Pipas, head of sales analysis and reporting at Ford. "In April, 62 percent of our sales in the United States were passenger cars and crossovers."

Consumers are not just downsizing, they are downsizing in a big way.

According to Pipas, a survey of data for all manufacturers shows that at least one pickup is on the top-10 trade-in list for nearly every small car model.

No vehicle exemplifies this shift more than the Ford Focus. Retail sales of the subcompact were up 88 percent in April over the same period last year, prompting Ford to increase output out its Wayne Assembly Plant.

Jim Farley, head of sales and marketing for the Dearborn automaker, said those gains came without resorting to big incentives. The average transaction price for the compact actually increased, he said.