Bob Diehl

June sales figures are not yet available, but Ford dealer Bob Diehl said they won't show any upturn.

"I think they will be a lot worse, as a matter of fact," Diehl said."It's not pretty at all."

While record gasoline prices are having an obvious impact on sales of bigger vehicles, overall economic uncertainty is also affecting would-be buyers.

"We've just got a lot of uncertainty out there, a lot of scary things," Diehl said.

With his 100-year-old dealership's income plummeting, Diehl has had to reduce payroll by 10 people, about 12 percent of his employees.

"We haven't had to do that for a long time," he said."It's not fun to do."

Diehl says car buyers could perhaps learn to live with today's high gas prices, but fear about future price increases has people holding back.

When Diehl spoke on Wednesday, crude oil prices had slumped, leading him to express cautious optimism that the dizzying run-up in gasoline prices was leveling off.

But on Friday, crude oil prices shot back up to a new record.

Diehl said he hopes he can boost sales by featuring more of the economical Ford Focus line.He'd also like to be able to offer the SUV hybrid Ford Escape, but those are in short supply.

"We haven't been able to get any," Diehl said.