You are still making parts for OEM production in America? You should get a medal for bravery. And you may receive a place in history as a vanishing species. We all heard of the dismal sales of new cars in the U.S. You as a parts maker are only peripherally interested in new car sales. What interests you is new car production.
The new car production numbers coming from the U.S. are much more horrific than the sales numbers. Dealer's lots are still full with 2008 cars. The U.S. could stop making new cars altogether and still have lots of cars to sell.

"Stop making cars" is actually quite common these days in the U.S. All Chrysler factories are shut down because of bankruptcy restructuring. Six factories of General Motors are closed, three of Ford are shuttered. In a week, when General Motors will go into bankruptcy - as it looks at the moment - all GM factories in North America and many in the rest of the world (except China) will most likely be shut down also.

When that happens, the new car production situation will get much worse than it already is. A look at the latest production statistics makes you think North America has hit bottom and cannot fall further. Sadly, it can.

Take a stiff drink, or a stomach tablet, and have a look at the latest North American production statistics. From January 1 through May 17,, 2008, all of North America (Mexico, U.S.A., and Canada) had produced 5.4 million vehicles. This year for the same period, the number is down to 2.7 million vehicles - that's half of last year!

Imagine what happens when the GM factories go off-line. Until May 16, 2009, all GM factories in the U.S. still had produced 627,520 cars. The year before in the same period, it was 1,274,936 cars made by GM. Take the currently producing GM factories off-line, and U.S. production could fall another 23 percent from its current levels.

As far as sales go, people in the United States will most likely buy 9.5 million light vehicles (cars and trucks) this year, the forecasting firm HIS Global Insight predicts. This is the lowest sales total since the 1960s.

There will be no quick recovery, nothing like the snap-back China experienced in the first quarter of 2009.

Source: gasgoo.com