Ford sales dive in August as auto slump continues

Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday its U.S. sales fell 26.5 percent in August, as the struggling automaker's results _ even worse than July's dismal figures _ showed that the U.S. auto sales slump may not have bottomed out.

Toyota's sales dropped 9.4 percent from August of last year, a further indication that the woes in the U.S. auto market are continuing, but Nissan _ the only major automaker to show a sales gain in July _ reported another improvement, with a 13.6 percent increase in August sales.

Ford sold 155,172 light vehicles last month, down 3.6 percent from 160,990 in July, which was the industry's worst month for U.S. sales in 16 years.

The …