The automotive industry is the industry that focuses on deigning, developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling the motor vehicles.  In the year 2008, more than seventy million motor vehicles were produced worldwide including cars and other commercial vehicles. In the year 2007, the total number of new automobiles sold is more than seventy one million.

The overall sales in the automotives are growing drastically. The markets in Japan and North America were stagnant during this period whereas South American countries and other parts of Asia experienced great increase in the number of total sales. The markets in Russia, China, Brazil and India were the ones showed most rapid growth.

The number of automotives used is around two hundred and fifty in United States. The number of automotives used around the globe in 2007 was a whooping figure of 806 million. The overall usage of gasoline will come around 260 billion gallons per year. 

The number of automobiles is rapidly increasing, especially in countries like China and India. Most of the experts feel that the urban transport systems that are based on the transportation through car is highly unsustainable as they consume excessive energy and affects the health of the populations.

This will also cause the decline in the level of services in spite of increase in the total investments in the transportation sector. However, the number people who would like to own and use cars are not coming down. The government bodies around the world are focusing on the sustainable transport movement to overcome the harmful effects of increasing number of automobiles.   

Challenges faced by the industry

 The year 2008 witnesses the rapid increase in the oil prices. Because of this increase, industries including the automotive industry are experiencing a tedious combination of pressures in pricing. They are under heavy pressure because of the costs of raw material and change in consumer behavior and buying habits.

The automotive industry is also facing tough competition from public transport sector. The sector is forcing the consumers to revaluate their decision of using private cars as the facilities offered by the public transport sector are improving greatly. 

 The closing down of the automotive manufacturing plants will result in loss of employment for millions around the world. With the decrease in the number of plants functioning in the United States, China became the leading automotive manufacturer of the world.  

Crisis in the automotive industry

The crisis in the automotive industry is because of the global financial downturn. The crisis greatly affected the automotive market in the European and Asian countries.    However, the major impact was on the American automotive manufacturing industry. In addition to this, the industry was also weakened by the increase in the fuel prices. The car manufacturers are relying on the creative marketing strategies for overcoming this situation.

Even the companies are offering high discount rates to boost up the market. Better designs are introduced into the market too. Even the flagship models of the major manufacturers are offered in the market with heavy discounts. However, the automobile manufacturers are keeping their fingers crossed as they expect the crisis to end in the near future.