Ford, the US car giant, will focus more resources on making small, fuel-efficient cars in a bid to stem massive losses driven by a sharp fall in truck sales.

Blaming the surge in petrol prices for a downturn in truck sales of up to 31 per cent, the auto giant today stunned the market with a $8.7 billion (£4.37 billion) loss in the second quarter.

The figure included $8 billion in pre-tax writedowns of North American plants and assets.

Ford shares tumbled 7 per cent in pre-market trading as questions emerged about the long-term survival of America's oldest car maker.

Don Leclair, chief financial officer at Ford, said: “We’re confident that we have enough liquidity to get through."

However, he gave warning that Ford did not expect to see a US economic turnaround until 2010.

The worse-than-expected second-quarter result immediately banished any optimisim created by yesterday's strong results from Volkswagen and Peugeot Citroën.

Adding to the gloom, French carmaker Renault and Germany’s Daimler — makers of Mercedes Benz — cut their sales targets in the face of a weak economy and high steel and oil prices.

Toyota, which is expected to take the title of the world’s biggest car maker from General Motors this year, suffered a 21.4 per cent drop in US sales in June.

After reporting a sixth loss in eight quarters, Ford announced a sweeping realignment of its North American operations intended to reduce its reliance on trucks and and SUVs by rolling out a range of smaller vehicles.

It will convert three truck plants in Michigan, Kentucky and Mexico to make cars.

Ford said it cut 200 white collar jobs in the second quarter, adding to the 1,800 factory workers that will lose their jobs in the current cost-cutting programme.

The company has abandoned a long-standing goal of returning to profitability in 2009 and delayed the launch of a redesigned top-selling F-150 pickup truck by two months to sell inventory.

Sales of the F-Series, which include the F-150 truck, fell 31 per cent in the quarter to 126,575, overwhelming sales gains for models such as the Focus and Fusion sedans. The F-Series accounts for about a quarter of Ford's US vehicle sales but smaller cars like the Focus will become more important in any return to profitability.

The net loss of $3.88 a share compared with a profit of $750 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier.

Mirko Mikelic, a US asset manager, said: "This is going to be an extremely painful year. The F-150 is really where they've made money for years and that's gone''.

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