What’s happening at Ford, Chrysler, Smart and Astra? ‐ The auto industry braces itself for the coming storm

It is all too easy, in the wake of september 11, to point the finger of blame for the current economic depression towards those responsible for the Twin Towers’ destruction. It is clear however, that for the auto industry, the origins of the problems it is experiencing began long before that ‐ sown in the over‐optimistic days of the mid to late 1990s. As the last decade of the Millennium rushed to a close, Ford was in a commanding position. New CEO Jacques A Nasser had inherited a company bolstered by very strong truck sales, with profits up more than 60 percent to $7.2 billion. It was a time when anything seemed possible.