GM Sales Fall 12% in November

General Motors Corp. said its U.S. car and truck sales fell 12% in November, led by a sharp decline in passenger car sales and a slight gain in pickups and other light-truck sales. The auto maker said car sales fell 23% to 177,272, from 229,681 in the year-ago period. Truck sales rose 4.6%, to 156,376 from 149,490. The results are in line with analysts’ expectations and continue GM’s recent trend of declining car sales and modest gains in truck demand. Most analysts were expecting only slight growth in industry sales for November. Among GM’s seven U.S.-based car and truck brands, only GMC, the truck division, posted higher sales for November. GM’s results follow Chrysler’s report that its U.S. car and truck sales rose a combined 1.4% in November. Among other auto makers, Toyota Motor Corp. said its November sales of cars and trucks, including the Lexus luxury models, rose 19.6%, to 99,241 from 82,984.