Zero percent financing saved the year for local auto dealers, making 2001 the second-largest sales year in history, just as it was for the entire industry. But now that most of the deals have ended, car dealers are trying to keep their chins and their sales up in 2002, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Realistically, this year is going to be tougher than last year for the industry, according to Paul Taylor, chief economist for the National Auto Dealers Association (NADA) in McLean, Va. Even with the continuing slow economy and the rush to take advantage of zero percent financing in the last three months of 2001, the industry expects to sell 15.9 million light vehicles - cars, pickup trucks, SUVs - in 2002, Taylor said.

Selling 15 million vehicles in 2002 wouldn't be such a bad thing, said Gary D. Williams, president of the Wisconsin Auto and Truck Dealers Association. "Not long ago, we said if we ever hit 15 million units, it would be phenomenal," Williams said. "The industry is still operating at a very high level from a historical standpoint."

Last year, more trucks than cars were sold in the U.S. for the first time ever, according to NADA's Taylor. Trucks accounted for 50.8 percent of sales.

"Station wagons are the next big thing," Taylor predicts.