Could you believe it?  We actually found a shred of good news about the auto industry.  Lets hope this is true, we aren’t sure how much more of this we can take.

Could there be hope for the auto industry?
More stability is seen after tough first half

Despite some dire auto sales predictions for 2009, automotive analysts say there are glimmers of hope that the market might begin stabilizing after a tough first half. They expect consumers, who are still wary over the shaky state of the economy, to buy between 10 million and 12.4 million new cars and trucks this year.
That figure is down substantially from the 16.7 million in annual sales the industry has averaged during the past decade. And it’s even lower than the dismal 13 million or so in sales expected for 2008.
But there are bright spots. More than US$23 billion in U.S. Government assistance now is on its way to General Motors, its lending arm, GMAC, and Chrysler. The money for GMAC, in particular, could begin thawing the credit market, which has been rejecting auto loans in droves. And that could help loosen consumer demand for cars and trucks, which has been pent up for months by the lack of credit and general caution over the U.S. economy.
“The first half is going to be quite a struggle, with some improvement in activity starting around spring,” said Jesse Toprak, a senior analyst at Edmunds.com. He says the things that need to be done to jump-start demand in the marketplace are happening little by little.
Most analysts still expect auto sales in 2009 to be almost as bad, or worse, than in 2008. For 2008, analysts predict that light-vehicle sales will drop to between 13 million to 13.2 million, which would be a decline of at least 18 percent compared with 2007 and mark the worst sales year since 1992.  (Detroit Free Press)