UPDATE 1-Brazil auto sales plunge 26 pct as crisis spreads

Thu Dec 4, 2008 8:40am EST
* Car and truck sales plunge 25.7 pct in November
* Production falls 34.4 pct, 4th straight monthly drop
* Sales are still up 18.3 pct so far in 2008 (Adds exports, year-to-date sales, breakdown by automaker)
SAO PAULO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - New automobile sales in Brazil slumped for the second straight month in November, falling 25.7 percent from October as a nagging credit crunch and a slowing economy kept many consumers out of showrooms, the national automakers' association said on Thursday.
Production of cars and trucks also dropped in November for the fourth month in a row, plunging 34.4 percent to 194,900 vehicles after slipping 1.3 percent in October.
Sales of new cars and trucks last month totaled 177,800 units, said Anfavea, the automakers' association. Sales had tumbled 11 percent in October, reversing course after a 9.8 percent jump in September.
Exports also fell sharply in November, dropping 23.1 percent from the previous month to $1 billion.
The slowdown follows three years of torrid growth in Brazil's auto market, one of the main beneficiaries of a credit boom that helped fuel a surge in consumption in Latin America's largest economy.
But lending has shrunk dramatically in the last few months as the global financial crisis has spilled into Brazil, hitting credit-sensitive sectors like the auto industry especially hard.
Despite the slowdown, auto sales were still up 18.3 percent so far in 2008 through November, Anfavea said.
Brazil is a crucial market for global automakers such as Italy's Fiat (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Germany's Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), U.S.-based General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). Asian and French manufacturers are also boosting their presence in Brazil, a vast country where most people still don't own cars.
Fiat, the market leader, sold 40,764 cars and trucks in November, a 23.6 percent drop from the previous month. Volkswagen sales fell 23.8 percent to 37,466 units, GM sales plunged 32.5 percent to 29,702 vehicles, and Ford sales slumped 29.4 percent to 15,943 cars and trucks. (Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr., Writing by Todd Benson; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)