Listen to the CNBC gang talk about the collapse of the automotive industry and you just might believe we have witnessed a catastrophe equal to the dinosaur extinction.

But to Jamey Power, whose family pioneered the idea that customer satisfaction could be a driver for auto sales, the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler signal something else. This is the culmination of a decades-long restructuring of the automotive industry for a truly global economy.

When the recessionary dust settles, a process he said could take “three to five years,” Power believes the winners are likely to be entrepreneurial mixes of dealers and brands led by the Penske-Saturn combo. He also likes the growth prospects for Korea’s Hyundai-Kia, Volkswagen, possibly a resurgent Fiat-Chrysler and almost certainly India’s Tata Motors with its eclectic mix of high-priced and super-cheap brands.

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