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Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., Japan's three biggest automakers, said November U.S. sales tumbled more than 30 percent as incentives failed to lure buyers to showrooms in a deepening recession.

Toyota's 34 percent plunge was the most for Asia's biggest automaker since at least 1980, while Honda fell 32 percent and Nissan plunged 42 percent. Combined sales for Asia-based brands including Hyundai Motor Co. slid 35 percent.

"We've probably reached a point where no vehicle is immune from the ravages of the market," said Mike Robinet, an analyst at CSM Worldwide Inc. in Northville, Michigan. "The consumer is not in a very jovial mood when it comes to opening their pocketbooks."

The loss of 1.2 million jobs in the U.S. so far this year helped drive down November industrywide sales to the lowest annual rate in 26 years. The slump forced General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. carmaker, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC to seek $34 billion in loans from Congress yesterday.

November's totals pushed the U.S. industry to a 13th straight monthly drop, the longest slide in 17 years. Toyota expects 2008 industrywide sales to be 13.2 million, down from 16.1 million in 2007, said Bob Carter, vice president of U.S. Toyota division sales.

Toyota

Models such as Honda's Fit and Toyota's Prius succumbed to the slump after selling for months at or above list prices without incentives. Sales of the Fit subcompact fell 8.4 percent, and the hybrid Prius was off 48 percent.

"This is the worst month for the combined Japanese brands" since 1991, said Jesse Toprak, director of industry analysis for automotive-research firm Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California.

At Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota, only the new Sequoia and Lexus LX SUVs recorded sales gains, with every other model across the Toyota, Lexus and Scion lines falling. Deliveries dropped to 130,307.

No-interest loan offers will continue on most Toyota brand models through December, a program that started in October, the company said yesterday.

That helped boost Toyota's incentives to an average of $1,908 per vehicle, a level Toprak said was the "highest ever" for the automaker.

'Diminishing Returns'

"At this point, in terms of incentive programs, we've reached a point of diminishing returns," Toprak said. "Consumers are not responding to them right now."

Toyota's U.S. market share was 17.4 percent last month, up from 16.7 percent a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Toyota shares fell 1.8 percent to 2,775 yen as of the 11 a.m. break in Tokyo Stock Exchange trading. Honda fell 5.5 percent to 1,782 yen and Nissan rose 1.3 percent to 306 yen. Hyundai fell 1.8 percent to 37,950 won in Seoul.

Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker after Toyota, said sales fell 32 percent to 76,233 vehicles, the company's lowest monthly tally since 2000 and biggest percentage drop since 1981.

While Toyota and Nissan have added no-interest loans to spur sales, Honda, which typically spends the least on incentives to maintain resale values, is offering interest rates as low as 1.9 percent. Sage Marie, a spokesman for Honda's U.S. unit, declined to say whether the Tokyo-based company planned any additional initiatives to spur sales.

"We're doing what we can to generate interest and traffic in a very challenging market," Marie said. "Showroom traffic is a critical element for sales, and obviously fewer people are coming in right now."

Market Share

Honda's market share was 10.2 percent, up 0.8 point from a year ago.

Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker, sold 46,605 new vehicles, down 42 percent. Katherine Zachary, a spokeswoman for the company's U.S. unit, couldn't immediately confirm when sales last fell that much.

Market share for Japanese and Korean makers was 43.4 percent for the month, up from 42 percent a year ago, Autodata said.

Hyundai, South Korea's largest automaker, said sales dropped 40 percent in November to 19,221. Kia Motors Corp., Hyundai's affiliate, posted a 37 percent decline.

"We initially thought the light at the end of the tunnel would be getting closer as we neared the end of the year, but every sale continues to be a struggle," Jim O'Sullivan, Mazda Motor Corp.'s North American chief executive officer, said in a statement. Sales for the Ford affiliate fell 31 percent.

Subaru, Suzuki

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru said sales fell 7.8 percent, the smallest drop among Asia-based brands. Fuji Heavy is 16.5 percent owned by Toyota. Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s sales fell 36 percent and Suzuki Motor Corp. reported a 46 percent decline. Japanese truckmaker Isuzu Motors Ltd., which is ending U.S. passenger vehicle sales in January, had a 74 percent drop.

The industry is struggling against a decline in U.S. personal spending in October of 1 percent, the most since the 2001 contraction. The drop in purchases followed a 0.3 percent retreat in September, the Commerce Department said Nov. 26.

Consumer sentiment improved in November, with the Conference Board's confidence index rising to 44.9 from a record low 38.8 the prior month, the private New York-based research group said Nov. 25.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net; Bill Koenig in Southfield, Michigan, at wkoenig@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 2, 2008 22:11 EST