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Last week, while I was reading the 7th straight month of growth for Ford Motors, it appeared that we are finally well past recession. How else can we explain the consistent growth achieved in the last 6 months by Ford Motors and General Motors.

It is very true that the year did not start on a very promising note with Toyota finding itself in the middle of the massive recall muddle that affected more than 8 million vehicles. Inspite of the extent of negative publicity, Toyota was able to bounce back in April. During the initial few months, Ford and General Motors made merry at the expense of Toyota’s failures. This has resulted in Ford and GM making considerable progress and revenue gains.

The situation in the US has been encouraging and some cheer has been reported from European countries as well. However, there is still a large piece of doubt that remains as far as Europe automotive market and European automotive manufacturing companies are concerned. The recent credit crisis is a case in point and many analysts believe that a recovery in the automotive market will take a severe beating if the scope of crisis expands to other European countries as well.

With the Greek crisis still not over, there seems to be some sort of turbulence as far as European recovery in the automotive sector is concerned; most analysts will be happy to give a judgment after seeing the trends in this quarter of the year. For sure, everyone, including the financial and automotive markets is hoping that the recovery strengthens over the next 3 months and the sales volumes sustain the initial periods of growth reported in the first 6 months.

And hence, a period of caution seems to entail for the automotive industry and especially the European manufacturers that include Volkswagen. Up until now, Volkswagen and other European manufacturers have had a good period of growth in the last 6 months and if the Greece crisis was a one-off exception, then we can surely hope for a continued recovery on path of automotive growth across the Globe. For now, almost all automotive manufacturers including Toyota have a reason to cheer. All of them are out of the woods of so-called slowdown.

Rob May is a seasoned automotive analyst and he advocates using fuel cards for business fleet operations. A fuelcard can help in effective fuel management and fleet operations.

Purchasing a cheap used car is often a bit more difficult than getting a new car though you can follow a lot of the very same strategies for both.

To begin with, know what vehicle you have in mind. Analysis the vehicle. There is a wealth of info online. Check the auto manufacturers website, consumer reports along with the edmunds.com site. Know the approximate price of the auto before you head out to the auto dealer. Visit your bank or to your credit union before you go shopping and find out the amount of money they will be able to provide you on a pre-owned car. By doing this you will have a much better understanding of what you can realistically spend.

Know that there are many different models of the same car. You may not locate precisely the vehicle with the extras you are looking for, or even the exact color, but you might find something close that’s a good deal.

Just about all car dealers are upright and trustworthy when promoting second-hand automobiles. They offer limited warranties with most of their used cars. When it comes to high end automobiles, a lot of them still have warranties in place when you purchase them.

When you are buying from a private seller ask to see service records. Go online and obtain a carfax auto history report. Find out if the car is going to be sold “as is”. When you are seriously interested in a pre-owned auto be sure you have plenty of time to take the car to your mechanic for him to give the vehicle the once over, in particular when it’s being sold “as is”. You do not want to learn after the fact that it requires many more repairs than you believed, that is something that you can’t tell just by a visual inspection.

The cosmetics of the automobile are a key factor in establishing it’s price. Autos are often scored as being in good, fair or excellent condition. However, particularly when purchasing from a private owner you’re likely to find that these ratings vary, at times drastically.

Whatever you do, don’t let anybody pressure you into making a fast selection, and in particular a private owner. As soon as you hear something such as “I already have another person who’s prepared to give me a down payment” let the cheap used car go. Stick to your guns, and your price range. If you don’t get this automobile it wasn’t meant to be and there will usually be another, and a far better one.