Ford to cut deeper into production

DEARBORN, Michigan Ford Motor said Friday that it would cut fourth- quarter production by 21 percent, its steepest cut in more than two decades. The company blamed declining sales of pickup trucks and an unexpected spike in gasoline prices this year for the cuts.

In addition, Ford said it was abandoning its goal, reiterated as recently as April, of selling 900,000 pickup trucks a year in the United States.

That could eventually mean an end to the reign by its F-series truck as the best-selling vehicle in America, a title it has held for nearly a quarter-century. The F-series pickup alone accounts for 30 percent of Ford's annual sales.