Carmakers expect 2008 to be challenging, at best, but hundreds of automotive parts suppliers are anticipating the year ahead to be one of the ugliest ever, the New York Times said today. Overall sales in the United States are projected to fall below 16 million vehicles next year, the lowest level in a decade, as a housing slump, high oil prices and weak consumer confidence deter car shoppers. Slow sales will mean less demand for parts at a time when many suppliers are already suffering from years of heavy losses or eroding profit margins. The outlook for suppliers, the nation’s largest manufacturing sector, worsened recently when Detroit automakers said that they did not plan to counter the softening market with bigger discounts, even if the country slipped into a recession.

Soaring fuel prices and slowing economic growth are likely to wipe out much of the airline industry’s profits next year, despite steady increases in global demand for air travel, the International Air Transport Association, a leading trade group said yesterday according to the New York Times. Analysts said that the expected slowdown could increase pressure on less-profitable carriers, particularly in the United States, to merge. North American carriers were likely to see the biggest drop in profit, down nearly 19 percent in 2008, to $2.2 billion, from a forecast of $2.7 billion in 2007.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud complaint against the former auditor of San Diego on Monday, a rare step that reflects the agency’s concern about the quality of the information that governments provide to municipal bond markets, the New York Times reported today. The commission settled the complaint at the same time, imposing a $15,000 fine on the auditor, Thomas J. Saiz, and enjoining him and his firm from violating securities laws in the future. The SEC accused Saiz of issuing clean audit reports on San Diego’s finances in 2001 and 2002, when in fact the city was shortchanging its pension fund and covering up the shortfall with fraudulent accounting. Regulators said that Saiz had not only approved of San Diego’s statements but helped to draft footnotes that included false claims about the steps the city was taking to protect its pension.