A Booz & Company survey of more than 200 executives from U.S.-based automotive OEMs and suppliers, conducted in January and February, offers a sober view of the state of the U.S. auto industry. Nearly two-thirds of the executives surveyed asserted that the restructuring efforts undertaken by OEMs and suppliers during the recession did not go far enough to address the industry's vulnerabilities. And the vast majority of the executives said the current state of the U.S. auto industry is about the same as -- or only somewhat better than -- it was in January 2009.
Perhaps most alarmingly, nearly 30 percent of the executives said they expect an automotive OEM to fail within the next two years.
There is good new coming out of Detroit thee days, but the lessons of the recession are still fresh in the minds of U.S. auto executives. Going forward, the OEMs and suppliers know they need to keep their operations finely tuned to survive in a cutthroat market.
