LOS ANGELES -

As the economy recovers somewhat from the doldrums of 2008 and 2009, a recent study from IBISWorld contends that the global auto sales industry is expected to enjoy a slight revenue climb in the next few years.

But this rise may be hindered by struggling European economies, the study contends.

Industry revenue is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 1.4 percent over the next five years to reach $3.96 trillion.

And for this year, specifically, the company predicts revenue growth of 3.4 percent “as the industry settles into its long-term growth path.”

This expected growth marks what company officials see as a “strong recovery” from 2008’s crash.

“Due to lower disposable income and growing pessimism about the future, demand for cars dropped,” said IBISWorld industry analyst Aries Nuguid, also stressing that motor vehicle sales have recovered strongly since.

The Recession on a Global Scale

The company also took a look back to 2008 to see how the automotive sales industry on a global scale has fared.

Highlighting how some governments around the world made it through the early recession, IBISWorld noted that many offered scrappage incentives, cash rebates and other measures to offset some of the decline in sales.

Interestingly, car sales did not suffer as much in emerging economies, according to the study.

In fact, car sales rose in China, Brazil and India during 2009, possibly with a bit of help from government incentives.

According to Nuguid, stimulus schemes in developing nations were effective in ramping up car demand to “new highs.”

And the playing field seems to be open to all as the automotive sales industry begins to reach closer to pre-recession levels.

“The global car and automobile sales industry is highly fragmented, with even the larger dealerships accounting for less than 0.5 percent of the market each,” company officials further explained.

“This is not surprising as there are over 200,000 enterprises in the industry. The low level of market share concentration is also due to the wide range of new and used motor vehicles sold within the industry,” they continued.

That said, the study revealed that concentration in the Western world is expected to rise over the next five years, “as the industry addresses an overcapacity issue and consolidates.”