Sashaying down off the mountain slopes into Geneva at the wheel of Rolls-Royce's dramatic new Phantom Coupé; making the annual pilgrimage to the Le Mans 24 Hour race in Aston Martin's much-improved, growling V8 Vantage two-seater; revelling in the towering surge of Bentley's 600 horsepower Continental GT Speed. The earlier part of 2008 provided some memorable moments for the world's motoring press.

But now that we are in the throes of the credit crisis, hedge fund managers and their ilk find themselves bereft of huge bonuses to splurge on expensive motors. The global car market has been hit hard, nowhere more so than in the luxury and sports car sectors. According to Tom Purves, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, 2009 will get a lot worse before it gets better.

Just how bad things have become was underlined earlier this month by Aston Martin's decision to cut up to one-third of its workforce because of tumbling sales. The announcement came three days after Rolls-Royce said it was making production cuts and job losses. “It's an unprecedented downturn in the global economy,” groaned Ulrich Bez, Aston's chief executive. Barely had he finished speaking than figures emerged showing that Aston's sales had plummeted 73 per cent in November, while total UK new car sales had fallen by 37 per cent, despite desperate attempts by carmakers to offer ever-larger discounts.