In the darkened cocktail lounge of a midtown Manhattan hotel early one recent evening, the gloomy atmosphere matched the mood of the Detroit executive who was nursing a beer. Auto sales are being ravaged by the toxic combination of plummeting housing prices, expensive consumer credit, and cratering used car values. And the economic forecast offers little hope of a recovery over the next 15 monthsThe conversation with the executive was off the record, but the array of negative indicators facing the industry is there for anyone to see:
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