Auto production skidded 5.1 percent in November from a year earlier to 820,841 vehicles, falling for the third consecutive month, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday.

Automobile output in the January-November period came to 9.05 million vehicles, down 3.1 percent from the same period last year, the association said.

The figure is likely to keep annual production for 2001 below the 10.14 million vehicles registered in 2000.