Oil price shock threatens European car market

The European car industry has remained serene while coping with stagnating sales, and cleverly held on to respectable profits while undergoing serious restructuring. Even the threat of a credit crunch, and the real pain caused by the loss of lucrative sales in the U.S. by its German premium brands has been managed with a degree of aplomb. But rocketing oil prices look like the last straw, potentially plunging the industry into a savage downturn not seen for perhaps 30 or 40 years.