Sales of North American-Made Cars Fall : Detroit: In November, even cash rebates and low-interest rates failed to move wary consumers.

Mid-November sales of North American-made cars and light trucks tumbled 30.4% compared to a year earlier, industry figures showed Monday.

“I don’t think the pace was a surprise to anybody,” said Chuck Brady, an auto analyst with Mabon Securities in New York. “It’s a continuation of an extremely sluggish demand we’ve seen for too long now.”

Cash rebates and low-interest rates failed to move consumers losing faith in the economic recovery.

Mike Johnson, sales manager at Ricart Ford in Columbus, Ohio, said his dealership is giving up some of its profit to sell cars and attract customers.

“We’re just putting deals together for people. We’re doing whatever we can to make people happy,” he said.

Ford Motor Co. said sales of its North American-made cars fell 33.6% in the Nov. 11-20 period, partly because fleets that it sells to rental car companies are staying in the agencies two months longer.

Ford analyst Joel Pitcoff said other makers also have gone to a six-month rotation on rental cars, but Ford made its change earlier, leading to its hard sales hit. Ford light truck sales fell 13.2%.

So far this year, Ford’s sales are down 16.1% compared to last year.

General Motors Corp. said its car sales fell 10.1% in the period. Truck sales were off 15.5%. For the year, GM sales are off 13.4%.

Chrysler Corp.’s estimated car and truck sales fell 25.3% in the period. The nation’s No. 3 auto maker reports sales once a month. The Associated Press estimate is based on the company’s monthly market share over the previous 12 months.

Chrysler’s estimated sales for the year are running 13.5% behind last year.

Big Three U.S. sales fell 20%, while sales of North American-made Japanese cars and trucks declined 6.8%.

So far this year, sales of all North American-made vehicles were down 24.7% compared to last year. Big Three sales are down 14.5%, but Japanese sales are up 7.6%.