Poor Economy Hits Auto Industry

2009 was one of the worst years to date for the auto market. Some of the biggest brand names, such as General Motors and Chrysler were forced to file for bankruptcy protection. While simultaneously firing a large portion of employees, they were also removing their most famous cars from their line up, such as the Hummer, Saturn, Saab and Pontiac. And Italian car manufacturer, Fiat SpA, bought out Chrysler, but was under the control of a chief executive from Canada, named Sergio Marchionne.

At the same time, Ford was some how still surviving and then some. They were even refusing offers such as government aid, in order to help keep their counterparts afloat. After all, if they didn’t have Chrysler or GM, they would also be out of business. They were even releasing new models, such as the Fusion, Taurus, and Flex.

Toyota suffered particularly, being that they suffered from doing several recalls over the past year, and along with Honda, they were forced to leave racing, for example Formula 1, to help save money and fund new projects.

Nissan and BMW were still creating new models despite also feeling a lack of cash flow, but somehow came out on top, with consumers responding.