The global economic crisis struck the auto industry right from the beginning and with devastating effect at different levels within the sector. Nearly every automaker posted double-digit declines in sales; corporate profits suffered, as did too the workforce, as hundreds of thousands lost their jobs. The first part of this report draws together the presentations and discussions of the research roundtable which was organized in May 2009 by the Sectoral Activities Department together with ILO’s International Institute for Labour Studies. The second part sheds light on the auto industry in five countries (Australia, Brazil, India, Republic of Korea and Malaysia).