The popularity of pickups is in a decline, sales have dropped, rebates and other incentives are climbing, even for companies like General Motors and Toyota that have the newest models on the market, the New York Times, reports. A growing sense of environmental responsibility that has flared along with gas prices and an uncertain housing market is prompting many contractors to delay buying new trucks. Pickup truck sales are down 5 percent so far this year from a weak market last year – that is more than double the overall decline in industry sales, which are down 2 percent this year. Because of the decline, automakers expect pickups to post their lowest sales this year since the beginning of the decade, even with incentives. The average discount on a Dodge Ram is $6,000, up $500 since January, according to the Power Information Network, which tracks industry trends. Chevrolet is paying an average of $2,343 in incentives on each Silverado pickup, double its discounts at the beginning of the year, when the truck was new. According to the NYT, even Toyota is discounting the Tundra, which it introduced in February, by an average of $2,000, the Power data showed.