Toyota's launch of its new Tundra truck didn't seem to convince most Americans; in any case, not much action is being seen in trucks when a greater concern seems to be fuel efficiency. Insofar as some models are doing better than others, it is because they play on a particular niche market; such is the case for Nissan Motors' (NSANY - commentary - Cramer's Take) subcompact Versa (considered a "chick car," being advertised with the slogan, "lots of room for big hair").

Toyota saw its July sales decline by 3% overall, with the hardest hit models being the ubiquitous Camry, where sales fell by 29%, or the cheaper Yaris, where July sales fell by 20%. As if to show who's the boss, however, the American consumer, especially females, has been rushing to buy Toyota's Prius hybrid in record numbers, even if the jury is still out on these newfangled cars.

In other words, the typical American consumer is all over the place this summer in his or her car-purchase decisions. As the following review of Asian automakers will show, dealerships all over America are probably scratching their collective heads on where the fickle American consumer is going next.

Toyota