UPDATE 1-GM November sales drop 41 percent
DETROIT, Dec 2 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N) reported a 41 percent drop in overall U.S. sales for November, saying continued economic uncertainty was hurting consumer confidence.
The sales results, reported on Tuesday, came as the No.1 U.S. automaker was set to submit an extensive restructuring plan to Congress in support of a $25 billion rescue package for the auto industry.
GM sold 154,877 vehicles in the U.S. market in November, compared with 263,654 a year earlier.
The company said it was extending a "Red Tag" sale with lower vehicle prices and cash-back offers through Jan. 5.
GM expects first-quarter 2009 production in North America to be down 32 percent from a year earlier, based on a plan to build 600,000 cars and trucks in the period, it said.
"The consumer is scared and sitting on the sideline. We need appropriate economic stimulus to get the consumer back in the game," GM U.S. sales chief Mark LaNeve said in a statement.
GM estimated that industrywide U.S. vehicle sales dropped 34 percent in November, extending a downturn that has accelerated amid financial market turmoil. (Reporting by Soyoung Kim; editing by John Wallace)
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