• Los Angeles Times, Monday, May 4, 2009 11 AM

While no one expects Americans to turn into a nation of fuel-sipping pragmatists, we are turning more to the European model of buying smaller cars and holding on to them longer -- a trend that analysts believe is here to stay, Jerry Hirsch reports. And the automakers know it.

"Our entire business plan is constructed around the idea of being a profitable enterprise at a lower industry sales volume and a change in the mix of what's sold," says George Pipas, Ford's sales analyst.

Tighter credit, depleted retirement savings and environmental concerns are among the forces reshaping the market The industry also faces other economic and demographic pressures, include a need for fewer cars as baby boomers age and retire; boomers trading down to smaller cars as their kids grow up, and the fact that today's car are more reliable and last longer than those of a generation ago.

Read the whole story at Los Angeles Times »