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Toyota (NYSE: TM) has already said that 2008 will be a bad year. Now it has revised down its sales numbers for 2009. The cut is about 7% and takes the company's estimate to 9.7 million vehicle sales worldwide.

The news may be bad for Toyota, but the company has a good balance sheet and has maintained a low cost base for years. Europe and North America is where the Japanese company said it is sustaining the most damage. According to The Wall Street Journal, the firm is "bracing for a long slowdown as robust sales to developing markets are failing to offset huge losses in the crumbling U.S. market."

For General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) the news could not be worse. Both rely on the U.S. market for the lion's share of their sales. Both are counting on some recovery in 2009 to allow them to stop the bleeding out of cash that threatens their abilities to remain independent and solvent.

The two U.S. car companies were going to go to the capital markets to raise money. Whether debt or equity investors would give them money becomes more problematic as each month of poor sales goes into the record book.

The government is talking about a $50 billion bail-out for U.S. car companies. That may be the only capital they can get.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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