GM’s Quarterly Output to Drop by 27,000 Units : Autos: The decrease indicates that an industry slump will spill into 1993.

General Motors Corp. said Tuesday that it will build 27,000 fewer vehicles in the last three months of this year than last year, an indication that the domestic auto industry’s anemic recovery will drag into 1993.

Ford Motor Co., which is aggressively trying to gain market share, and Chrysler Corp., which is launching a new line of mid-size cars, are standing by higher fourth-quarter production estimates.

The projections from industry leader GM and downgraded earnings estimates for GM and Ford by a major Wall Street brokerage sent auto stock prices plummeting on the New York Stock Exchange.

Ford fell $2.37 1/2 to $40.25, GM lost $1.25 to $33, and Chrysler lost 62 1/2 cents to $23.37 1/2.

GM said it will build 1,181,000 cars and trucks in North America in the fourth quarter, compared to 1,208,000 in the period last year.

“This reduction from year-ago levels reflects GM’s continued expectation of a slow economic recovery in the U.S., as well as reduced fleet sales in the 1993 model year due to a restructured program for sales to daily rental fleets,” GM said.

Release of production estimates was unusual for GM.

Spokesman John Maciarz said the figures were released because of incorrect information that had been circulating since an United Auto Workers strike that idled nine assembly plants. GM said Tuesday that the strike cost it 48,000 vehicles, far more than trade publication estimates.

GM faces another strike Friday at a plant in Lansing, Mich., that makes the outer body for the hot-selling Pontiac Grand Am. If a labor dispute in Anderson, Ind., turns into a strike, it could cripple up to 95% of the auto maker’s North American operations.

Tuesday’s lower production figures jibe with comments by GM executives that the auto maker will sacrifice market share for profit until its money-losing North American operations improve, said George Peterson, an analyst with AutoPacific Group Inc. in Santa Ana.

“They want to keep their inventories well in hand,” Peterson said.