World auto sales outlook: in 'low' for '81, then zoom

The world's major auro producers face another year of falling output and weak demand, but a strong sales recovery should begin in 1982, an independent research group, Economic Models, said. A 10 percent drop in sales of new cars between 1979 and 1981 will force a major shake-up in the international auto trade. It said that Japan and the United States are expected to emerge relatively unscathed from the slump but that Western Europe will find a growing portion of its sales being taken by imports.