Not to hijack the thread, but today’s Automotive News reports:
“U.S. auto sales overall are expected to come in at a 9.2 million vehicle annualized rate and retail sales are forecast as the worst of the year, J.D. Power said. Its forecasts were based on sales through the first two-thirds of September.

The overall rate would about equal the result from February, the worst annualized sales rate of the year. J.D. Power maintained its full 2009 and 2010 sales outlooks.

U.S. auto sales in July and August were boosted sharply by the government's cash for clunkers program that provided incentives of up to $4,500 to consumers to turn in gas-guzzling vehicles and buy new more fuel-efficient vehicles.”

Several other notes that didn’t seem to “make the news” –

Few, if any, parts and distribution jobs in the automotive industry were restored as a result of the program as dealers drew down existing (excessive) stocks.

Most dealers of domestic automobiles are still “overstocked” (with some interesting exceptions – the Mustang GT, the new Camaro in V8 models and the Hemi Challenger are in short supply).

The news continues to indicate that this will be a “jobless recovery”. What that really means is that small businesses (including many affected by the automotive industry) that are able to survive will be very hesitant to rehire as margins have been drawn down and a lot of small businesses are running on much extended lines-of-credit. They will wait until such are paid off and significant profits are enjoyed before hiring again.

Large corporations (OEMs and those producing large ticket items) are also running lean and have experienced (probably needed in most cases) reorganizations and downsizing.

The only place where employment numbers have actually increased is the federal government.

Lord help us…..