The firm also predicts that global sales next year will be 70 million, not the 73.5 million it forecast earlier.
In US, some forecasting firms have slashed their predictions for 2008 light vehicle sales to 13.6 million units, from 16.15 million units in 2007.
Worse, these firms say the deepening global credit crisis will cause demand to sink further next year.
J.D. Power and Associates sliced 600,000 units from its previous forecast for this year. It also has taken 1.1 million units out of next year’s outlook, which now calls for sales of only 13.2 million units.
Global Insight Inc., which once predicted sales this year would reach as high as 14.5 million, later lowered its estimate to 13.8 million and yesterday took another 200,000 units out of its forecast.