Some glimmers of hope this week as auto sales tallies in places as diverse as Europe and Brazil showed that government fiscal incentives can work. Well, apart from in Spain, anyway.

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Something of a reality check from Daimler, then, whose AGM this week heard from the good Doctor Zetsche that global automobile markets would not pass through the worst of the recession until the second half of 2009 at the earliest, while the automaker was preparing for a distinct decline in business volumes this year with revenue “likely to be significantly lower than in the prior year in all automotive divisions and further substantial burdens on group earnings anticipated”. Ouch.


And, to really cheer you up, a certain well respected professor specialising in the auto industry had a less than stellar view to share as well.


Poor old General Motors. On top of the ongoing reports/speculation/guesses about its future, including, ahem, not a little of our own analysis, came the news GM could be knocked back to only third-largest global automaker this year, by Volkswagen.


GM itself had some good tidings from China, a foray, ironically, championed by ex-chairman/CEO Rick Wagoner, and there were numerous reports throughout the week on the restructuring, ideas to save German unit Opel and, inevitably, that pesky b-word.

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If imitation is flattery, Hyundai’s US unit should consider itself much-flattered. GMAC here in the UK became the latest this side of the pond to offer free ‘involuntary employment’ cover, after the UK units of Honda and Volvo, and, of course, GM and Ford have already picked up this idea Stateside.


Methinks the incentives will just keep on coming.


just-auto is taking a four-day Easter weekend break from tonight so we’ll be back next Tuesday. Enjoy your weekend, long or otherwise.


Graeme Roberts
Deputy/News Editor
just-auto.com