One sign of it was that the most discussed car at the Detroit show was not actually on display. It was Tata's $2,500 Nano small car for the Indian market, which captured the attention of US executives who have their own plans to push into India and to expand further in China.
Anyone who is 50, or approaching that age (for those wishing to send me a card, May 31 2009 is the date), must feel a pang at the idea that we are over the hill. Mr Mason's logic, picked up by the FT on a tour of Tesco's Fresh & Easy US stores, is that Mr Leahy will be there for some years yet and the board will seek a successor who can stick around for a bit.