SAN FRANCISCO - Ford Motor Co. said Friday that it's delaying the launch of its latest F-150 pickup, the longtime industry best-seller that lost its top spot in May, and is cutting truck production amid rising demand for more fuel-efficient cars.

Ford shares dropped 8.1 percent to close at $5.81 and are now down more than 34 percent in the past year.

The automaker also pared its 2008 U.S. industry sales forecast to a range of 14.7 million to 15.2 million cars and trucks, down from its previous projection of 15 million to 15.4 million vehicles.

"As gasoline prices average more than $4 a gallon and consumers worry about the weak U.S. economy, we see June industry-wide auto sales slowing further and demand for large trucks and SUVs at one of the lowest levels in decades," Ford CEO Alan Mulally said.

Ford cut its third-quarter production plans to 475,000 vehicles, 50,000 units lower than prior targets and a decline of 25 percent from a year ago. Ford plans to produce 550,000 to 590,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, down 40,000 units from previously announced plans and off 8 percent to 14 percent from a year earlier.

"Ford has taken decisive action to respond to this accelerating shift in customer demand away from large trucks and SUVs to smaller cars and crossovers, and we will continue to act swiftly moving forward," Mulally said.

The company said its pre-tax automotive results in 2008 will be worse than 2007 while "cash outflows to fund operating losses and restructuring will be greater than previous guidance."

Ford is still looking to cut annual operating costs by about $5 billion by the end of the year, compared with 2005, but "unless the economy improves, it will be difficult for Ford to break even companywide on a pre-tax basis in 2009, excluding special items."

Ford said it will delay the F-150 by two months, due to slumping industry demand and the need to clear out inventory of the current model. In May, the flagship pickup, for the first time in decades, was outsold by cars from Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

As part of the production overhaul, one shift will be eliminated at both the Kansas City and Dearborn plants. And the Dearborn truck plant will be idled most of the third quarter.

The Michigan truck plant will be idled for nine weeks beginning on Monday and one shift will be cut at the Louisville plant, home to mid-size SUVs. Line speed at plants in Kentucky and Chicago, where large pickups and full-size sedans are built, will be reduced.

At the same time, factories that build the crossovers and smaller cars like the Ford Edge and the Ford Focus, will add shifts to meet rising demand for gas-sipping cars.

"We view the move to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles as permanent, and we are responding to customer demand," Mulally said.

Rival General Motors Corp. on Thursday reacted to the same forces by announcing that it will divert capital away from its flagging line of big trucks and SUVs and toward smaller cars.

GM shares also came under pressure Friday, closing down 6.8 percent at $13.79 and touching levels not seen in decades.

Standard & Poor's analyst Efraim Levy reiterated his hold rating on Ford's stock but widened his loss targets for 2008. He also pared his industry sales outlook to 14.8 million cars and trucks from a prior forecast of 15 million.

"June automotive sales will continue to be weak with a sharp shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles away from trucks and SUVs," he said. "We believe Ford will be particularly penalized by the shift due to the company's high dependence upon its F-150 pickups."

Levy reduced his price target on the shares to $7.50 from $8.00.

In a separate release later in the day, S&P cautioned that it might downgrade the ratings of all three Detroit automakers, placing its corporate credit ratings of GM, Ford and Chrysler on CreditWatch with negative implications.

"We have renewed concerns about all three automakers' future cash outflows in light of the prospects for U.S. sales for the rest of 2008 and into 2009," Robert Schulz, an S&P credit analyst, said in a statement.