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.
Timeline of the Great Recession. A recession is when a country experiences two or more quarters of contraction in their economy. GDP in the United States had averaged around 1% per quarter prior to 2007, but beginning in the fourth quarter, those numbers started to shrink.