German auto giant Volkswagen has seen sales fall 11.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009 to 24 billion euro. Net profit slumped a drastic 74% to a dismal 243 million euro.

The firm labeled the current conditions as being "extremely weak", and said that a recovery is nowhere in sight, as both profits and revenues are expected to fall below the trend for 2009.

Autonomics refers to the changing landscape of automobile economics. Broadly speaking, autonomics embodies the current zeitgeist of the car manufacturing industry and how it relates to global macroeconomics. Some of the topics it covers are:

• The financial crisis, the credit crunch, and bailouts
• Globalization, outsourcing
• Technology and technomics
• Consumer expectations and needs

The automotive industry is experiencing significant economic shocks from the recent financial crisis. This is especially true in the US with the Big Three. A declining quality of American cars coupled with a lack of credit in the US put considerable drag on the car industry.