Usually powertrain is used to refer to simply the engine and transmission, including the other components only if they are integral to the transmission. A motor vehicle's driveline or drivetrain consists of the parts of the powertrain excluding the engine and transmission. It is the portion of a vehicle, after the transmission, that changes depending on whether a vehicle is front-wheel, rear-wheel, or four-wheel drive, or less-common six-wheel or eight-wheel drive.
The Great Recessionâwhich officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009âbegan with the bursting of an 8 trillion dollar housing bubble. The resulting loss of wealth led to sharp cutbacks in consumer spending.
The U.S. was thrown into recession only a few months after Reagan took office in the 1980s, and the Great Recession had already begun by the time Obama entered the White House in 2009. Andrew Soergel and Ethan Rosenberg for USN&WR; Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis.