Cars

  DESPITE the bankruptcies, bailouts and plunging sales that quaked the auto industry this year, perhaps nothing sums up the misery better than this: The United States is no longer the world’s top car market.

As 2009 draws to a merciful end, J. D. Power & Associates estimates that the Chinese will end up buying 12.7 million vehicles, compared with Americans’ 10.4 million purchases. How much has the market contracted? Consider that in 2000 United States sales reached an all-time high of 17.4 million.

The slippage came despite an unprecedented effort to assist those who make and sell cars, including the summer cash-for-clunkers program that doled out $2.9 billion in government rebates to spur sales of 690,000 new cars — while taking that many guzzling older models off the streets. Despite that program’s temporary jolt, nearly 1,500 dealerships had shut their doors through October, making this the worst year for dealers since at least the 1950s, according to Automotive News, a trade publication.

The recession in North America, Europe and elsewhere pushed some automakers into the grave and others into consolidation or drastic downsizing. The casual consumer, who may not realize that General Motors killed off Pontiac this year, or that Jaguar and Land Rover now belong to Tata Motors of India, may need a scorecard and a spreadsheet to keep track of the players left in the game.

To that end, here is a rundown on the status of some brands and companies caught up in the shuffles, shakeups and desperate dances of the last couple of years, as automakers tried to keep a lap ahead of the Grim Reaper:

ASTON MARTIN A consortium led by a British motorsports magnate — with the backing of Kuwaiti petrodollars — is still running this manufacturer of luxury sports cars, acquired from Ford in late 2007. Ford had exponentially lifted Aston’s worldwide sales, though the recession has taken its toll on all high-end nameplates. James Bond, at least, is back in a proper Aston, driving the stunning $270,000 DBS in his last two adventures; will Daniel Craig trade up to the even more conspicuous One-77? Aston will build just 77 examples of that $2 million, 220-m.p.h. supercar this year.

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