The California Motor Car Dealers Association cites high fuel prices, the softening housing market and debt-conscious consumers for the drop in new vehicle registration. For the first six months of this year, registrations of new cars and light trucks in the state totaled 994,778, a decline of 7.7 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the California Auto Outlook Second Quarter 2007. The rate of decline is expected to taper off in the second half of this year.