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Not everything is driving south with the recession, but it does look like the motor industry is among the first to follow construction and banking over the precipice.

Let's start with the bit that's heading north.

You would have thought that depressed demand would push down prices.

But today we hear from Avis, the car rental company, that they intend to push up their prices by about 20%.

Bosses blame falling demand and the difficulty in off-loading their fleet cars into the second-hand market.

And in addition to higher costs, you will find their cars available at fewer locations.

The plan to raise prices is intended to impress shareholders. It may look rather less attractive to cash-strapped customers.

With the auto industry tanking, Halfords is looking relatively strong. Bosses at the spare parts-to-bicycle retailer reckon on car owners delaying decisions to buy new models, so they will call by for an extra bag o' spanners to keep their old jalopies roadworthy.

This could also be a good time for sales of puncture repair kits, as people take to two wheels for both environmental and cost reasons.

Even ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland chiefs have been taken aback by the high number of staff using the bike shed at our new Glasgow headquarters.

Altogether bigger scale is the grim future for America's car giants.

In September, GM, Ford and Chrysler secured 25 billion dollars in tax credits to help them make the transition to more fuel efficient models.

They had only just woken up to the impact of research and development of better engines, hybrids and electric models by foreign rivals, notably Toyota and Honda.

All their investment in fuel-thirsty SUVs - sports utility vehicles, or 4x4s - failed to spot the sudden change in consumer tastes when fuel prices soared during summer.

Now, the companies want another 25 billion dollars to bail them out of their current cash flow crisis, and they are lobbying furiously, with a warning that as many as 2.5 million jobs are linked to the big three down its extensive supply chain.

The Bush administration has responded by saying it could re-direct the 25 billion dollars already committed, which tells you something about its commitment to combating climate change as soon as fuel prices drop.

This is now one of the hottest topics for the incoming Obama administration and the lame duck session of Congress, but it has implications for European car manufacturing as well.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is having meetings today to consider the potential impact for GM's Opel factories, while Britain has Ford plants and GM manufactures under the Vauxhall badge.

British car makers are lobbying the Treasury to help support their financing subsidiaries, as part of the financial bailout.

But it doesn't look good for them. Gordon Brown is not well disposed to industry bailouts that effectively present an obstacle to free trade.

His fear is of protectionism driven by the US Congress, where many of the majority Democrats were elected earlier this month on a populist appeal not to "ship American jobs abroad".

The risk of meltdown for three American car icons, which used to be among the largest and most successful corporations in the world, are part of the same story you will find at a showroom near you.

Sales are down by more than a fifth on last year and industry experts reckon on around 15% of dealerships being on the brink of collapse.

Unlike Avis, don't expect prices to go up as a result.