Dollar strength and trade wars threaten automaker investments

Almost ten years ago – on 15 September 2008 – Lehman Brothers, then the fourth largest investment bank in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The day before, another colossus of the investment banking world – Merrill Lynch – agreed a last gasp takeover by Bank of America, and the global financial crisis moved from theoretical construct to abject reality and front-page news. It also, of course, had a major impact on the global automotive industry.