Is the car industry back on its feet?
Today's news that General Motors is repaying £5.3 billion in emergency US government loans and Chrysler has moved back into operating profit is welcome good news for sector which has been on a downward spiral for some time. There is a growing belief that the financial position of the leading car manufacturers in the world has improved dramatically over the last few months although at the moment this has not been reflected in the UK marketplace.
The manufacture of cars in the UK has been a dying business for many years now with the government accused of lacking forward thinking and forward planning in this particular area. However, while we have seen a number of overseas companies such as Nissan making use of very lucrative and sizable taxpayer assistance, on the whole it has been difficult to maintain the industry at the size it is now, even if it is somewhat reduced from years gone by.
On a positive note, the opinion of those in the car industry regarding the government's car scrappage scheme has been very upbeat and many believe he will see the scheme reintroduced by the next UK government in the short to medium term. But will this be enough to save the UK car industry?
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