Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Chrysler LLC said November U.S. sales tumbled more than 30 percent as the recession and Detroit automakers’ aid pleas kept buyers away from showrooms.

Toyota’s 34 percent plunge was the most for Asia’s biggest automaker since at least 1987, while Chrysler’s total fell almost in half to its lowest in 14 years of Bloomberg data. GM dropped 41 percent, and Ford declined 31 percent.

The results showed the strain of the deepening economic slowdown and the announcement last month by GM, the largest U.S. automaker, that it might not have enough cash to last through the year. GM, Ford and Chrysler were presenting plans to Congress today for $25 billion in federal loans.

“When you think of the psyche of the American consumer right now, it’s bad,” said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “And until we start seeing some help from the economy we are going to keep seeing months like this.”

November’s totals may have pushed the U.S. industry to its 13th straight monthly drop, the longest slide in 17 years.

Ford expects the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for the month to be lower than October’s 10.6 million, the company’s marketing chief, Jim Farley, said on a conference call. Analysts and economists surveyed by Bloomberg had projected a November rate of 11 million.

Annual U.S. sales this decade had averaged 16.8 million before this year.

GM, Ford

GM’s sales of cars and light trucks collapsed to 153,404 vehicles.

Deliveries fell for each of GM’s eight divisions, including a 64 percent decline for the Hummer sport-utility vehicle unit that the Detroit-based automaker is seeking to sell. The top- selling Silverado pickup lost 23 percent of its sales from a year earlier.

GM disclosed a preliminary plan for cutting first-quarter North American output by 32 percent to 600,000 vehicles, while Ford said it would slash production in the region by 38 percent to 430,000. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford didn’t change its fourth-quarter production plan of 430,000 vehicles.

Ford’s sales total plummeted to 123,222 units, with sales falling at all four U.S. brands. The biggest decline was 46 percent for Volvo, which Ford is considering selling.

Toyota, Honda

At Toyota, only the new Sequoia and Lexus LX SUVs recorded sales gains, with every other model across the Toyota, Lexus and Scion line falling as deliveries slid to 130,307. Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-largest automaker after Toyota, said sales fell 32 percent to 76,233 vehicles, the lowest monthly tally since 2000.

Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest automaker, said it sold 46,605 new vehicles, down 42 percent.

Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, said sales slid 47 percent to 85,260 cars and trucks. That was the lowest total since 1994, based on the earliest available Bloomberg data.

U.S. automakers probably held 47 percent of their home market, automotive-research firm Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California, said in a Nov. 24 report. That figure would match their share in October, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Economic Weakness

The industry is struggling against a decline in U.S. personal spending in October of 1 percent, the most since the 2001 contraction. The drop in purchases followed a 0.3 percent retreat in September, the Commerce Department said Nov. 26.

Consumer sentiment improved in November, with the Conference Board’s confidence index rising to 44.9 from a record low 38.8 the prior month, the private New York-based research group said Nov. 25.

U.S. economic weakness provided the backdrop for GM’s Nov. 7 announcement that it would run out of cash by the end of the year without government aid. Less than two weeks later, Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally and Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli told Congress that a GM failure would ripple through the supply chain and cripple all automakers.

Automakers may not get a lift from an economic recovery any time soon, with Ford predicting that industrywide sales will keep declining through 2009’s first half.

‘Truth Point’

The first quarter will be a “truth point,” marketing chief Farley said on the conference call.

“If you are any kind of astute business person, you plan for it to get worse,” said Lindland, the IHS Global Insight analyst. “There just isn’t any relief in sight and that is depressing.”

Automakers sought to temper the November slump with “record high” incentives, said Jesse Toprak, director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com.

They also benefited from “remarkably lower gas prices,” Toprak said. Gasoline at U.S. pumps averaged $2.11 a gallon last month, compared with $3.52 through the first 10 months, according to motoring group AAA.

Ford began offering employee pricing for all buyers on Nov. 19 for almost all its 2008 and 2009 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands. GM started a “Red Tag” promotion almost 10 days early this year, on Nov. 15, where prices include all cash-back incentives.

Chrysler promised $6,000 cash back on its 2008 300C sedan and Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota is offering no-interest loans on more than half its models.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan, at wkoenig@bloomberg.net; Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 2, 2008 16:09 EST