SEOUL/FRANKFURT: Car and truck makers around the world signalled fresh production cuts and job losses on Wednesday with some warning the slump in demand may extend until 2010. "It would be wrong to assume that this economic downturn is short-term in nature and will be over in only six months," said Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive of German industrial group MAN AG. MAN plans to cut output by 30 percent at its core truck making business next year. The global financial crisis is making consumers increasingly reluctant to part with cash and lenders unwilling to offer credit, causing carmakers across the world to struggle to find buyers to keep their production lines running. Matthias Wissmann, president of VDA auto industry association, told Reuters that new vehicle registrations could recover by 2010 but sales would fall to post-reunification lows in 2009. "The situation on global passenger car markets is dramatic," he said. All major automakers have reported double-digit declines for US auto sales in November, hurt by the plunge in consumer confidence brought on by the turmoil in the financial markets and a weakening US economy. South Korea's top carmakers Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors both said they had cut US production levels after posting a 40 percent and 37 percent drop respectively in US November car sales versus a year ago. India's largest motorbike maker, Hero Honda Motors Ltd, meanwhile, said it sees sales remaining under pressure as consumers struggle to raise finance to buy new machines. Hero, in which Japan's Honda Motor Co has a 26 percent stake, said it hopes to stick to the production plans it outlined at the beginning of the year. reuters