General Motors sales plunge 41 pct.

Detroit-based General Motors Corp. reported a 44 percent drop in demand for cars, while light truck sales dropped 39 percent.

A dreary economy, swooning consumer confidence and tight credit markets have combined to keep consumers out of vehicle showrooms this year. On Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research said the U.S. entered a recession in December 2007, much earlier than most predictions.

Many analysts had expected November sales to come in slightly better, noting that aggressive incentive spending and the plunge in gasoline prices may have put a floor under sales. But GM, Ford, Toyota and Honda Motor Co. all posted month-over-month sales declines, pointing to a potential industrywide drop.

Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's No. 1 automaker, said truck sales plummeted 36 percent, while demand for passenger cars fell 32 percent, despite the automaker's extension of zero-percent financing on a dozen vehicles through the end of the month.

Automakers' sales reports are coming in the same day the U.S.-based automakers were scheduled to present plans to Congress for how they expect to return to profitability. Ford, GM and Chrysler LLC will go before lawmakers this week to ask a second time for a combined $25 billion federal loan to stave off bankruptcy.

GM shares traded in positive territory most of Tuesday morning but fell 31 cents, or 6.8 percent, to $4.28 after its sales report. Ford shares rose 5 cents, or 2 percent, to $2.60 in afternoon trading, while Toyota's U.S. shares rose $1.76, or 3 percent, to $60.32, and Honda gained 44 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $20.38.