Volkswagen: No company dodges the global auto recession

American companies like General Motors (GM) got hit the earliest and hardest by the downturn in car sales, perhaps because the American market turned south more quickly than others. Toyota (TM) started to bleed as it faced falling demand in it home market, the U.S. and Europe.

The largest car company in the EU, Volkwagen, reported poor numbers for the last quarter. Since it has almost no market share in America, its problems are largely due to trouble in Europe and Asia.