Automakers are in the news, ladies and gentlemen; let's start with General Motors (GM: sentiment, chart, options) . Today, 1 component of the Big 3 announced that light vehicle sales in the U.S. fell 41.3% in November compared to a year ago. Total sales for the month came in at 153,404 vehicles, down from 261,273 a year ago.

The Chevrolet division saw sales drop 36.9%, and that was the least-hit of GM's divisions. Hummer sales dropped the most, falling 63.9% to 1,454 vehicles last year. GM division sales dropped 44.1% from 58,786 units last year. GM is nearly 2% lower this afternoon, as investors digest the latest round of poor sales news.

My question is, why didn't they expect this? Poor economy + high gas prices = lower car sales (and I'm not a math major). According to The Wall Street Journal, GM is likely to sell at least 1 of its 8 auto brands, most likely Saab.

Ford (F: sentiment, chart, options) has also made some news, turning in plans (along with other automakers) to Congress to return to profitability by 2011 in hopes of gaining access to billions of dollars in federal loans. F is looking to finish its transformation to profitability without getting a loan ... but the cash may be necessary if the recession continues. The American automaker did note that it doesn't expect a liquidity crisis in 2009. F is roughly 2% higher as we head toward the final hour of trading. Yesterday, my colleague Andrea Kramer took a look at Ford - click here for her thoughts.