By Anne Fleming

What a year 2009 was for the once dominant and powerful auto industry. Saturn and Pontiac are out. Fiat and Tesla are in. Two of the Big 3 'survived' bankruptcy - and the verdict is still out on their long term fiscal viability. Nearly 1800 dealerships have or will close by this time next year. Ten million new cars were sold in 2008 versus 16 million in 2007, and it looks like this year's results will be even worse. The economic and human trajectory of this demise, collapse and to a high degree, mismanagement, of the domestic leaders has yet to be truly calculated.

In the midst of such a shocking 12 months, what does the industry do to create a transformative working and healthy model? Is there enough 'forward thinking' in the minds of the multi-generational industry leaders and dealer owners that can shift this industry into the marketing giant it once was? Are there enough players to transcend the old ways of doing things with a new paradigm that mirror today's sophisticated and transparent buying options now available to 21st century consumers?

To help get a jump start, here are six transformative new business practices that will shake up the old and offer the auto industry an opportunity to land squarely on all fours.

1. Lose the 'tude, Dude

Car buyers have very little interest in negotiating. In fact, most loathe it. Women, for example, often have powerful positions at her workplace. While an estimated 80% of women initiate and motivate the family car purchase, many of those women expect their significant other or, the nearest man, to go with them to the dealership to 'buy the car'.

Women-Drivers.com, a consumer rating web site connecting women to women-friendly car dealers, reports that even as women account for 54% of new car purchases 62% of them visit the dealership with another person, and, 78% of the time it's a man - even when the car is exclusively hers.<>