More U.S. consumers bought Toyotas than Fords in July making the Japanese automaker number two in U.S. sales behind General Motors for the first time.

With consumers already paying summertime gasoline prices that are near record highs, BP announced that the oil company must shut down the biggest oilfield in the country, Alaska's Prudhoe Bay.

Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will try to sell a subsidiary that sells vehicle service contracts it bought for $180 million in 1999 as part of a now-abandoned diversification effort away from making autos.