The global car market will take until 2013 to return to 2008’s sales levels, a senior Nissan Motor executive has said.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more


“I think the distress in the industry will continue. I think the suppliers will continue to be distressed. I think it’s going to be very tough for the rest of the year,” Colin Dodge, an executive vice president at the automaker and chairman of its management committee for Africa, the Middle East, India and Europe, told Reuters.


Dodge said he was sticking to a global car market forecast of 54m vehicles for this year.


“Globally I don’t think we’ll be back to 68-70m cars until 2013 and, when we do, it will be in different countries than before,” Dodge said.


Nissan last May said it had lost US$2.4bn in the fourth quarter as global car sales slumped and forecast more losses this year. Chief executive Carlos Ghosn predicted then that Nissan would return to a profit in 2010/11 if external conditions stayed the same.

Just Auto Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Just Auto Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.

Excellence in Action
Continental has secured the Window Displays Innovation Award in the 2025 Just Auto Excellence Awards for its Window Projection solution, transforming side windows into dynamic, data-rich canvases. Discover how this compact projection technology and intelligent software are reshaping in-car UX and opening fresh revenue streams for OEMs and mobility providers.

Discover the Impact