Brace for Bad News From Automakers

By Jeannine Aversa

WASHINGTON -- Walloped by the recession, automakers' U.S. sales are plummeting as hard-to-get credit, job losses and other stresses make many Americans wary of taking on big-ticket financial commitments.

Auto sales for November, to be released Tuesday, are expected to show a drop of 36% from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 10.2 million vehicles, according to Joseph Amaturo, analyst at Buckingham Research. Those sales figures would include the Big Three Detroit car makers as well as foreign companies that sell vehicles in this country.

Later Tuesday, General Motors(GM), Ford(F) and Chrysler will provide a skeptical Congress with details about their long-term viability plans. The U.S. auto companies are desperately trying to secure $25 billion in fresh government loans to help them survive the economic carnage. They insist that bankruptcy isn't an option, even as companies burn through cash and bleed jobs.

The auto industry's plight comes under an intense spotlight just one day after the U.S. got some grim news of its own: The economy has been stuck in a recession since December 2007.

AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed to this report from Detroit.

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