Light-vehicle sales in the U.S. are expected to continue their decline in 2009. Global Insight, a firm that has been forecasting sales since the 1960s, is predicting sales of 13.4 million units next year. That figure is slightly down from the 13.8 million units automakers are expected to sell in 2008. (For comparison to recent years, 16.1 million vehicles sold in 2007 and 16.5 million units sold in 2006.) Global Insight makes note of the current U.S. credit crisis and the worsening global economy, citing the worldwide financial situation is more detrimental to auto sales than oil at $200-a-barrel. When oil is high, at least the countries benefiting from the oil profits continue to purchase cars – unlike today. While analysts differ on when we may see a turnaround, the firm feels it could take until 2013 for sales to recover to levels seen just a few years ago.
Carlos Ghosn, President, Knight, and big cheese at Nissan Motor Company and Renault, says the U.S. auto industry is in recession. Ghosn told the Associated Press, "We are very lucid on the situation of the industry that there is a recession in the United States, at least in the car market." With Nissan division sales in North American down 7.8 percent from this time last year (and the word "recession" literally meaning "the act of receding") few can contest his statement.
The Associated Press report adds that deflated U.S. car and light truck sales in 2007 marked the worst sales year in a decade. Brushing off long-term concerns, Ghosn is optimistic the market will improve. Yet, he cites the rising cost of raw materials as yet another concern for automakers. Maybe the best solution to Nissan's current problem is to quintuple production of the GT-R, sell it as both a Nissan and an Infiniti, and bait us all with attractive lease deals? Yes, that would definitely do the trick.
