GM Predicts U.S. November Sales Drop

General Motors Corp., the No. 1 auto maker, is predicting a 4% to 7% drop in U.S. sales for November. Company executives and some analysts said the decline is just early indication of a sales slowdown that probably will continue well into next year. Toyota Motor Corp., meanwhile, said its U.S. sales this month are on a pace to rise nearly 20%, Bloomberg News reported. Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler would not release sales projections for November. Some auto analysts said that an overall decline in vehicle sales is not an indication of a downturn in the industry, because sales in previous periods have been at record levels. On the New York Stock Exchange, GM closed off 25 cents at $51.31 and Ford closed up 88 cents at $24.38. Shares in DaimlerChrysler slid $1.25 to $38.85, a record low, as investors continued to worry about the auto maker’s future. Analysts speculated that newly named Chrysler chief Dieter Zetsche will order production cutbacks to get vehicle inventory levels in line at the struggling U.S. unit.