DETROIT — With a slump in U.S. vehicle sales by Ford Motor Co. last month, the No. 2 domestic automaker was beaten out not only by Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. for the second time ever but by DaimlerChrysler AG as well.

Ford, which also detailed planned production cuts, said yesterday sales dropped 9.7 percent in November compared with the same period a year ago. The drop to No. 4 in monthly sales — a first, according to Autodata Corp. — came as industry sales rose a modest 2.9 percent to nearly 1.2 million vehicles.

Toyota sold 196,695 vehicles in November, a 15.9 percent increase over November 2005, and DaimlerChrysler's were up 4.7 percent to 186,635, compared with Ford's 181,111. Sales by GM, the world's largest automaker, rose 6.1 percent to 293,558 vehicles in the U.S. last month, the most of any manufacturer.

"I think it's more the product," Global Insight analyst George Magliano said of Ford's unexpected stumble.

Ford's light-truck sales dropped 13 percent to 119,259, including a 16.1 percent drop in sales of the dominant F-Series pickup, while car sales fell 2.6 percent to 61,852, reflecting lower deliveries to fleet customers.

Ford sales analyst George Pipas said Ford's focus remains on its North American turnaround effort dubbed the "Way Forward," which includes job and manufacturing cuts. Ford lost $7 billion during the first nine months of the year and has said it won't return to profitability until 2009.

"It's not that important right now in the scheme of things," he said of sales rankings.

Ford sold fewer vehicles in the U.S. than Toyota for the first time in July, but Ford's U.S. sales surpassed the Japanese company's in August through October. This year Ford's U.S. sales are about 2.7 million, down 7.5 percent from the first 11 months of 2005, while Toyota's sales are about 2.3 million, up 12.5 percent.

Jesse Toprak, chief economist for Edmunds.com, a research site for car buyers, said Ford should regain the No. 2 sales spot for December. And he said fewer low-profit bulk sales to rental companies has its upside.

"They probably cut down their fleet and rental sales more than anyone guessed, which is good and bad," Toprak said. "Obviously, it makes their numbers look bad, but if they can cut down their fleet and rental numbers, that is good in the long term."

Toyota's November sales were boosted by a 17.8 percent increase in light-truck sales. Sales of the RAV4 compact sport utility vehicle had their best November ever, up 156.9 percent to 11,425. Toyota's car sales were up 14.5 percent, to 109,126.