The paper presents the role that the automotive sector plays in national economies. The origins of the automotive market crisis have been described as well as its impact on the world and European automotive markets. A condition of the Polish automotive industry and related markets has been discussed indicating relatively moderate consequences of the crisis (as opposed to other countries). The influence of the crisis on the change of buyer preferences has been presented, indicting the shift of the demand towards smaller, cheaper and more energy efficient vehicles. New trends have been shown resulting from the crisis forcing the manufacturers to launch hybrid and electric vehicles as well as alternative fuel vehicles. In the conclusions negative and positive consequences of the crisis have been listed and a production forecast has been made for the coming years.