Heard some interesting numbers recently that illustrate just how dramatically our world has changed in the past year. The Meltdown on Wall Street, which not only tipped Chrysler and GM over the edge, but now has almost every other automaker on the planet bleeding cash, has altered the automotive landscape in America forever.

 Forecasters are predicting U.S. light vehicle sales -- that is, cars, pickups and SUVs -- will total just 9.7 million units this year and 11 million units in 2010. For context, light vehicle sales in 2000 topped 17.4 million units, and as recently as 2005, 17.0 million units. Last year's horror sales number -- 13.2 million units -- now looks like dreamland for automaker sales and marketing chiefs.

Those numbers, by the way, are below a worst case scenario -- 10.5 million sales in 2009; 11 million in 2010 -- outlined in the business plan submitted by Ford to the Senate Banking Committee in Washington last year. Under that scenario, Ford claimed it would need an additional $13 billion in funding in the form of a "stand-by" line of credit.

Ford has assiduously avoided taking any government money so far, and been routinely praised in the mainstream media for having gotten its house in order, unlike GM and Chrysler. But how much longer can the Blue Oval boys hold out? What conditions would the government likely impose in return for a loan? Most importantly, in the aftermath of GM and Chrysler, would consumers assume that Ford, too, was on the brink of bankruptcy?

Automakers finished 2008 with about 3.1 million units of unsold cars and trucks sitting in dealer lots and holding yards around the country. As of right now, it still has 2.6 million of them left, all 2008 and 2009 models, and aging fast. Deep discounts are inevitable. No surprise, then, that some analysts predict net industry revenue for 2009 will be $80 billion to $100 billion lower than last year.

North American vehicle production will fall below 8 million units this year -- the lowest total since 1961. That means North American vehicle production will have almost halved in two years, a decline roughly equivalent to closing 35 assembly plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Recovery will be slow -- production is forecast to rise to 9.7 million units next year, and 11.9 million units in 2011.

We're not likely to see 2007 levels of production, say the number crunchers, until 2014. But here's the thing: The Detroit Three -- assuming Chrysler and GM survive -- will be producing at least 2.6 million fewer vehicles a year in their North American plants than they did in 2007, while Asian automakers will be building at least 2.2 million vehicles a year more here. The Europeans -- BMW, Mercedes-Benz, VW Group -- will likely have increased their North American production by up to 500,000 units a year.

"This one's gonna leave scars." That was Ford marketing maven Jim Farley's take on the recession a month or two back. In terms of automobile manufacturing in North America, those scars will be deep and permanent.