Schumacher’s theory – the economist not the Formula One racing driver – that small is beautiful seems increasingly pertinent these days in the case of the European motor industry. If any fresh evidence was needed to show how resilient the old Continent’s leading volume carmakers have become to the global economic downturn, just consider the latest half-yearly figures from Volkswagen, Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat.

All three reported pretty impressive results on Wednesday given the current climate. Fiat was sufficiently confident to stick its neck out and give a profit forecast for next year. It expects group sales to rise from an estimated €63bn ($99bn) this year to €65bn and trading profits to surge to €4.3bn-€4.5bn next year, from an estimated €3.4bn-€3.6bn this year. No you are not dreaming.