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The recession hits and even the mighty Japanese auto industry reels from dismal sales and not so favorable forecasts. They are still the most selling brands according to motor trend which shows Japanese auto makers leading the pack in sales above all other brands. With many suffering losses in the billions, they still manage to get a huge percentage of the auto sales in the global market. Toyota Motors, the recently crowned world’s leading auto maker suffered billions of dollars in losses and so have Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and the many other brands but compared to the Europeans and Americans, they have it easy.
Most of these auto makers are fast-tracking the development of their own hybrids to complement their already swelling product lines to boost sales in the US as the economy recovers. Strict laws regarding pollution control and the development of better engines are driving them to do so at a rapid pace. Though they have decided to some trade-offs such as withdrawal from formula one racing and many other flamboyant excesses to turn their focus onto the support of hard hit manufacturing plants across the globe. They are managing to survive without much a talk of the foreclosures and dissolution in the other arenas of the auto industry that may see the end of many long standing brands and models as the economic downturn affects all.