US Passenger Car Sales fall 27% in September
The US auto industry has sustained considerable sales haemorrhaging in September, with figures plumbing 15-year depths, while US Department of Transportation year-on-year figures reveal that driving miles by Americans continued to fall in July 2008. In addition the harbingers of doom were prevalent among top car manufacturers: BMW, Ford and Renault all agree that the slump could be the beginning of a more sustained slump than previously predicted.
Financial news sources site comments from Norbert Reithofer, Alan Mulally and Carlos Ghosn – the CEOs of the three aforementioned giants – suggesting that predictions of a swift recovery may have to be put on hold. Ghosn told journalists at the Paris Auto Show, “We don’t know if we’re at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning,” turning down requests to reiterate earnings targets.