Detroit, Jan 02: Automakers are looking forward to getting back to basics in 2004 and promoting "gotta have" new cars and trucks, after a year in which discounts and rebates were the name of the game. And with a raft of new products in the pipeline and the US economy on the up again, most analysts and industry hands believe that sales will grow again in 2004, after dipping in 2003.

Some of the most bullish analysts and insiders see a return to the glory days of 2000, when industry sales hit the 17 million-unit mark.
David Littmann, chief economist for Comerica Bank in Detroit, thinks federal tax cuts and refunds and cheap sticker prices could push sales as high as 17.1 million units this year. Car prices are at their most affordable level for 25 years, according to Comerica's affordability index - with the average transaction price of a new vehicle equivalent to about 20 weeks' median family income. Bureau Report