Ford (NYSE: F) announced late yesterday that it would cut back on the production of SUVs and large pickup trucks. I guess the harsh reality of high gas prices is finally sinking in at Ford headquarters. It's about time.

Ford will close its Wayne, Michigan truck plant for five weeks this summer. The plant is the source of Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators, sad relics of the cheap gas and mindless consumption era. Not that I think mindless consumption is going anywhere, but cheap gas is probably gone for good. Both vehicles have seen double digit declines in sales this year.

And that's not the only major realignment in the works. Rumor has it that the Kentucky truck plant that produces the F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks will shut down for a month. Seems that expensive gas and a shriveling housing bubble has drastically reduced the demand for big work trucks. These plant closings come on top of a 10% reduction in truck production announced in March.

And in what seems like an admission of defeat for the profligate and war-inspiring American Way of Life, Ford said that it is planning a smaller pickup truck to be introduced in 2011. The truck will be based on the F-150, but be smaller and lighter and use a six-cylinder engine. Speculation is that the new truck, which may be called the F-100, will replace the Ranger.

BusinessWeek put together a list of the most recalled new cars in 2007. What is surprising is that four out of the top five vehicles were imports, and not domestic cars. Chrysler's (NYSE: DAI) Jeep Liberty, with 149,605 recalls, was the only domestic in the top 5. Chrysler had three other significant recalls, including the new Dodge Nitro, Jeep Wrangler and Chrysler Sebring. General Motors (NYSE: GM) had two vehicles recalled, while Ford's (NYSE: F) lone recall was from its Expedition line, and only totaled 10,000 SUVs.

Toyota's (NYSE: TM) Sequoia hit No. 2 on the recall list, with 533,000 vehicles recalled. This is a surprising improvement from last year, where Toyota recalled nearly 700,000 vehicles.

The new Volkswagen (OTC: VLKAY) Beetle took No. 1 on the recall list; triggered by the potential for a brake light switch to malfunction in over 1 million vehicles if it was installed incorrectly.

Take a look at BusinessWeek's slide show here.