L.A. Motor Show opens

Nissan's tough talking boss, Carlos Ghosn, has opened this year's Los Angeles Motor Show with a grim assesment of the state the motor industry finds itself in...

Describing "extreme market volatility" as something "the world has not faced since 1929", he admitted that car sales in October were among the worst seen by car makers in 25 years.

However, despite the sombre tone of his address, he signed off with hope for the future... Here are the key statements from his speech.

"There is no doubt the world is in a very serious and difficult situation," said Ghosn, citing fears for the economy, the availability of credit and the environment as things that would challenge us in the months to come.

"The recession that began in the US is now spreading across the world," he continued. "We are in uncharted territory."

"The next stop for Nissan is to ensure we meet our short term objectives. Put simply, that is to avoid burning cash."

"Medium term we must also start preparing for the moment of growth. We must keep one eye on the longer view. Pent-up demand [for new cars] must be building. Even if we do not know when this demand will be fulfilled, we must look for signs of growth."

"The likelihood is, however, that this period will see much consolidation between carmakers. Put simply, there will be fewer actors in the play."

"The good news in all of this, and the thing that I am absolutely certain about, is that people will keep driving new cars. There is no substitue. The question is, what sort of cars will these be."

He continued: "It is likley that everything we see, from hybrid to hydrogen, diesel, electric and petrol, will continue to be developed. It is likely that these cars will offer regional solutions to the challenge of selling cars. On top of this, it is likely that this market will grow. Today, there are 600 million cars rolling around the plant. By 2050 it is forecast that this number will be 2.5 billion."

"Clearly there is no possibility that these 2.5 billion cars can all be powered by oil. This is not likley to be sustainable. There are big concerns about this, and we will address these concerns. It is Nissan's firm belief that the solution to this will be electric."

"As a result, Nissan will mass market electric cars in all regions of the world from 2012. We have the batteries and the technology to do this. And I am not just talking about one type of car. We must build a line-up, relevant to a wide range of people. And by this I mean developing small cars, MPVs and 4x4s."

"We know we can do this, but we will need the help of governments, industry and third parties. However, we have begun to address this challenge too."