When the current financial crisis begins to translate into the real economy, it is clear that those sectors most exposed to consumer purchasing – department stores and supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and so on – will be the first to feel the pain. But eventually it will feed through to industry, and carmakers are in the front line.

Even before the crisis started, their traditional buyers were already causing concern. Sales on both sides of the Atlantic have been falling sharply – the US car market is now at its lowest level in 15 years – and environmental issues have added to the pressures by forcing car manufacturers to rethink the design and development of new, smaller, lower-emission vehicles.