Factory output rose 1.8 percent in November from October, according to official seasonally adjusted data. Industrial output, one of the main drivers of economic gr o wth in Argentina, has been slowing in recent months, hit by energy shortages during the winter and waning demand from Brazil, the top market for Argentine car exports. "Our factory output is strongly linked to the auto and metallurgical sectors, which rely heavily on whatever happens in Brazil, so we're seeing a more moderate industrial sector," said Enrique Dentice, an analyst at San Martin University. Argentine auto output inched 0.1 percent higher in November from a year earlier, compared with double-digit growth throughout most of 2011. Meanwhile, auto exports plunged 17.8 percent in November year-on-year, according to the Adefa private carmakers' group. Economic activity in Brazil fell for a third straight month in October the latest proof that the slowdown in Latin America's largest economy may be deeper and more prolonged than initially thought. Argentina's factory output grew 4.1 percent year-on-year in October.