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Car company executives, especially those of the luxury brands, will be looking ahead to 2008 with more than a little trepidation. The reason is simple: while nobody could have predicted the scale of the so-called credit crunch, nor the financial storm that we are told threatens to engulf western civilisation, many more nimble industries will be able to take some measure of action to insulate themselves.

Car companies, however, will not. Like massive oil tankers, changing direction is not easy for these lumbering firms. Many of their strategies and product line-ups for 2008 were decided years ago, not least because bringing new models to the market - from drawing board to forecourt – can easily take five years.

The result is that just as the rest of the world is tightening its collective belt and battening down the hatches for the year ahead, high-end car companies are committed to launching some of the fastest, most expensive and flamboyant cars ever seen.

For petrolheads such as 50 Cent, the American rapper who has given previously staid marques such as Bentley and Rolls-Royce a bling boost, this is something of a bonanza. However, for those whose livelihoods depend on selling such cars, there will be eerie reminders of the early 1990s when a raft of super-exotic cars designed in the heady last days of the 1980s bull market reached a public that was no longer in any mood to receive them. From the McLaren F1 to the Jaguar XJ220 and Bugatti EB110, all were financial disasters for their creators.

To make matters worse, car makers must also contend with the European Union. This year it announced plans to impose swingeing fines on manufacturers of cars that do not meet strict CO2 emission targets, which will become law in 2012 – not far off in car-making terms.

But for now at least we can look forward to that unprecedented stream of fast and luxurious cars that were designed back in the days when CO2 was a by-product of school chemistry experiments, and will find their way on to these pages during 2008.

We start, appropriately enough, with Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Their offerings for 2008 are both coupés and will undoubtedly be the most expensive closed cars that either manufacturer has ever put into mainstream production.
Bentley will be first out of the blocks in the spring with its 500bhp Brooklands coupé based on the Arnage saloon, while Rolls-Royce will follow in the summer with a closed version of its critically acclaimed Phantom Drophead Coupé.

Expect the Bentley to cost £230,000, making it an apparent bargain compared with the Phantom coupé, which seems certain to cost more than £300,000.

Their parent companies are not going to have a quiet 2008 either.

Volkswagen, which owns Bentley, will not only launch a new Scirocco coupé, but its subsidiary Audi will bring the outrageous RS6 to market with a 580bhp engine, making it the most powerful estate car ever offered for sale. The RS6 will sit alongside the new TTS, the most powerful and dynamic version of the TT ever to go on sale. Audi might also reveal the next step intended for its ultra-successful R8 supercar, which is expected to involve bolting a 520bhp Lamborghini V10 motor into the engine bay and changing its name to R10.

Meanwhile, BMW, which owns Rolls-Royce, will be readying the X6 for sale. By far the most sporting SUV ever to wear a BMW badge, it hopes to combine coupé style with off-roader practicality in a package that, with a new 408bhp 4.4 litre twin-turbo engine, will give the Porsche Cayenne the fright of its life.

BMW will also introduce the saloon version of the new M3 and a convertible roof for the 1-series coupé.

It’s going to be a quieter year for Mercedes-Benz, but it is still planning a little powerplay of its own. Next year will bring us new AMG versions of both the C-class saloon and SL sports cars, with a little less and a little more than 500bhp respectively.

There will be the all-new CLC sports coupé and, lest we forget, that monument to all that is excessive in the automotive world – the convertible Maybach Landaulet. No wonder the German government (as well as the individual car makers) is protesting to the EU over its emissions law.
The Japanese are not to be outdone, either. There are three supercars waiting in the wings, only one of which, Nissan’s incredible-looking 473bhp GT-R, has been confirmed.

As quick as a Porsche 911 Turbo, yet likely to retail for not much more than half the price, it has already become a cult car among the automotive blogging community, despite the fact that not a single unit has yet to make it to these shores.

And 2008 should be the year that Lexus finally puts its LF-A supercar into production, more than three years after its concept was first shown.

Powered by a 5 litre V10 engine and capable of more than 200mph, if the speed it has shown in testing at the Nürburgring racetrack is any guide, it should be one of the most exciting cars of the year.

But the big question is whether it will have the replacement for the Honda NSX as a rival. According to Honda insiders, the car is finished and ready for production but Takeo Fukui, the chief executive, is waiting for some success to come from the marque’s Formula One programme before revealing the car.

After this year’s disastrous season, he will be hoping for a complete turnaround in fortune, or it could easily be 2009 before the long-awaited NSX is finally revealed.

This is not the end of sporting new Japanese cars for 2008 by any means. We will be reporting on the Lexus IS-F, a rival to the BMW M3, in February, and shortly after that, on both the high-performance STi version of the new Subaru Impreza WRX and, perhaps most anticipated of all, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, the 10th in a line of world-beating Mitsubishi all-wheel-drive saloons.

Mazda is also due to launch a new version of its successful and impressive RX-8 rotary-engined coupé.

Back in Europe, Ferrari isn’t talking about its plans for 2008, but the gossip about a new, small, front-engined Ferrari to rival the Aston Martin V8 is far from idle and the biggest question about it now seems to be when it will appear, rather than if.

Porsche is keeping mum too, but it’s fair to expect a substantial reengineering of the 911 at some stage next year, one that will most likely include a twin-clutch, paddle-shift transmission.

In the UK, Aston Martin is certain to put at least a few examples of the V12 Vantage RS into production. Packing a 600bhp engine derived from its Le Mans racer, it will be by far the fastest Aston ever made, and the most exciting with it.

Quite what Jaguar and Land Rover will unveil in 2008 will be determined by their new owners, whose identity will be announced imminently.

But while Land Rover looks set for a quiet year, Jaguar will be going all-out to establish its new XF saloon in the marketplace. We might even see the XF-R super-saloon that’s set to rival the BMW M5 thanks to its supercharged 500bhp V8 motor.

All in all, then, 2008 looks set to be one of the highest octane years on motoring record. The only question now is whether there will be enough buyers out there with the spare cash to enjoy it.

... and for the family man

Away from the glitz and the glamour of the supercars, sports cars and high-end luxury machines, there are some rather less flamboyant but eminently useful bread-and-butter machines also going into production.

Following on from the successful launch of the 2007 Mondeo, Ford will probably have the busiest year. In 2008 it will put on sale an all-new Fiesta and, after more than a decade in production, it will also be replacing the much-loved Ka.

They will be joined by the Kuga SUV, the four-wheel-drive crossover vehicle that will be about the same size as a Focus and was first unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

The year will also see the exciting arrival of the new Citroën C5, which seems to be one of the most interesting and imaginative mainstream family car designs since the firm’s DS model of the 1950s. If it is even close to being as good to drive as it is to look at, its success will be surely deserved.

Other important launches include the Vauxhall Insignia, which replaces the Vectra, all-new successors to the Honda Jazz and Accord, Audi’s mid-sized Q5 SUV, a new Mercedes-Benz E-class, and the Hyundai i10 city car, which, at less than £6,500, could be a steal when it goes on sale in March.

In short, it’s going to be one of the busiest years on record. We’re looking forward to every last minute of it.