Why Have German Car Sales Remained So Strong When Everyone Else Is All Over The Place?

Stock markets may be crashing as investors panic, western economies totter on the brink of another recession, and the euro zone is close to collapse, but Germany and its premium car manufacturers sail serenely on.

European forecasters are scrambling to cut their forecast for car sales but all seem to add the caveat "not including BMW, Mercedes and Audi."

During the last recession, the big three Germans were not immune from harm, but they took the opportunity to take some hard decisions to cut costs and plan for the future. They didn't waste the crisis.