The COVID 19 pandemic has exposed businesses to high uncertainty through a number of channels. While the magnitude of this economic disruption is much larger than the 2008–2009 global financial crisis, there are pertinent learnings from the latter which can accelerate the recovery envisaged after the current crisis. To identify that, in this paper, we analyse the determinants of firms’ ability to maintain positive performance during an unexpected downturn. We do this by using a multinomial logit analysis on Italian automotive industry firm-level data covering the years before and after the 2008 financial crisis. The most significant results are that innovation and intangible assets play a key role in shaping the degree of firm ability to face external shocks. Our findings provide insights into solutions that have practical importance for companies pertaining to a mature industry like automotive. Learning from the economic downturn faced in 2008–2009, which we highlight in this study, can act as the first step into a green and sustainable recovery desired in the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic.