There will only be six automakers by 2010. 

That's the word from Sergio Marchionne.  The CEO of Fiat, a sometime manure distributor, says that the world auto market demands vast corporations capable of producing more than five and a half million automobiles a year--only five companies presently have that capacity.

"By the time we finish with this in the next 24 months, as far as
mass-producers are concerned, we're going to end up with one American
house, one German of size, one French-Japanese, maybe with an extension
in the United States, one in Japan, one in China and one potential
European player."

More specifically, Marchionne sees GM, Toyota, BMW, VW, and Nissan-Renault having clear spots. Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Chrysler, Daimler-Benz, and Peugeot-Citroen will either have to be annexed or vanish. 

Fiat will evolve and broaden its operations to include the manufacturing of airplanes and Canadian-designed and anatomically correct fembots in order to stay competitive.

Not really.

Is this really what the auto world will turn into?  What about the magic of Subaru, the unending quality of Mitsubishi, or the charm of legenday car-builder Panoz?