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Honda, Japan's second-biggest automaker, this week announced further production cuts of 50,000 vehicles for the year to end-March, on top of the 370,000 planned in North America, Europe and Japan. (financialpost.com/money/story.html?id=1235378)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Honda_Dealership.jpgChang-Ran Kim - Financial Post (financialpost.com) - Jan. 30, 2009

The Carnage of the auto industry woes can be seen everywhere, not just the US. -- Ed.

TOKYO/STUTTGART - Sliding car sales dealt fresh blows on Friday to the earnings of top auto makers caught in the worst industry downturn in decades.

Amid emptying showrooms and production cuts worldwide, Honda Motor Co. on Friday lowered its annual profit forecasts for a fourth time this year and rival Toyota Motor Corp.'s losses were seen growing.

German sports car maker Porsche said first-half profits will fall sharply and forecast a sales slump of more than a quarter in the six months to the end of January.

"The sales environment is changing faster than we were able to predict," Honda Executive Vice President Koichi Kondo told a news conference, noting that four profit warnings in a single year was probably unprecedented in Honda's history… http://www.financialpost.com/money/story.html?id=1235378

Y'know, as costs versus revenue-generation get reviewed, it wouldn't be too far fetched to see Service and Parts costs go up significantly --- they are currently the ONLY revenue stream that many dealers are surviving on.

We are already seeing back-logs for service in our area that are unprecedented. No more show-up-and-half-hour-wait, more like book an appointment, in some cases a week or two in advance!