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2 July, 2009
Analysts project that global sales of motor vehicles could drop below 50 million units this year if the current pace continues. If this results, worldwide demand would be at least 10 million units lower than the peak level reached in 2007, a decline equivalent to the output of 40 or so average sized assembly plants. It would mark the lowest annual number of new vehicles sold since the late 1990s.
Nearly every major automaker is affected with the largest volume declines registered by those TNCs with the most presence in the United States. General Motors, Toyota, Ford and Chrysler are counted among these companies. Significant reductions in annual unit sales from the global peak reached in 2007 are also forecast for European and other Asian-based auto assemblers.
Declines have hit nearly every market both geographically and by product segment. Incoming orders for commercial vehicles virtually dried up in many areas as construction, transportation and shipping activities slowed dramatically. The least affected among the vehicle segments are smaller, less expensive, more fuel efficient passenger cars. Generally more affordable for households, such models have also benefited from successful government-funded programs providing purchasers of new cleaner cars with a subsidy if they scrap an old, higher polluting vehicle.
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