Chrysler, on the other hand, will record massive losses for the year as parent company DaimlerChrysler's corporate stormtroopers engage in layoffs and management upheavals. This is not new to the industry, but it's been nearly 40 years since such an upheaval happened. Before that, in 1958, Hudson and Packard went down. Perhaps it's only coincidence, but 1958 and 1960 also saw major inflation. The U.S. economy, by all indications, is flattening out and the auto industry will use that as an excuse for poor performance, but that's not the whole story.
Consumers have too many choices in each market segment.
As a consequence, manufacturers are becoming satisfied with sales numbers that, just a few years ago, they would have rejected as too small to justify production. In addition, passenger cars don't generate the massive profits that SUVs and light trucks do. Manufacturers are increasingly dependent upon those profits and are relying on the economy to stay strong enough for demand to continue. However, society's tastes and whims change with the economy. If the slide continues and fuel prices stay high, SUV sales will surely taper off.