Brazil auto sales slump in Oct on credit squeeze

SAO PAULO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - New automobile sales in Brazil slumped 11 percent in October from September, hurt by a sharp retraction in the availability of credit due to the global financial crisis, the national automakers' association Anfavea said on Thursday.

Production of cars and trucks also dropped in October for the third month in a row, slipping 1.3 percent to 296,300 vehicles. Output had fallen 4.3 percent in September and 1 percent in August.

Sales of new cars and trucks in October totaled 239,200 vehicles, Anfavea said.

Brazil has become a crucial market for global automakers such as Italy's Fiat (FIA.MI), Germany's Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE), U.S.-based General Motors Corp (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N). Asian and French manufacturers are also beefing up their presence in Brazil, Latin America's largest economy. (Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr., Writing by Todd Benson; editing by John Wallace)