Carlos Ghosn, President, Knight, and big cheese at Nissan Motor Company and Renault, says the U.S. auto industry is in recession. Ghosn told the Associated Press, "We are very lucid on the situation of the industry that there is a recession in the United States, at least in the car market." With Nissan division sales in North American down 7.8 percent from this time last year (and the word "recession" literally meaning "the act of receding") few can contest his statement.

The Associated Press report adds that deflated U.S. car and light truck sales in 2007 marked the worst sales year in a decade. Brushing off long-term concerns, Ghosn is optimistic the market will improve. Yet, he cites the rising cost of raw materials as yet another concern for automakers. Maybe the best solution to Nissan's current problem is to quintuple production of the GT-R, sell it as both a Nissan and an Infiniti, and bait us all with attractive lease deals? Yes, that would definitely do the trick.

[Source: Just-Auto, subs. req'd]