The beginning of the end for the automotive industry?

Guillaume Bachelay, responsible for industrial policy in France's Socialist Party, comments in Le Monde newspaper on the crisis in the automotive sector in France and Europe: "What if the car simply vanished in 2009? Of course we will continue to build and sell cars far into the future. But if we don't act swiftly and resolutely, this year could be the beginning of the end in the West for this business sector. In Europe car sales are plummeting. In France factories are closing, order books are empty, inventories are piling up, suppliers and subcontractors have been bled dry. ... The crisis has heightened the fragility of the sector, but it didn't create it. ... It is time to act on the European level. Unfortunately France failed to make use of its EU Council presidency to this effect, but there are still paths to explore. We could found an agency for industrial innovation ... or foster enhanced cooperation on European patents."

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