Euro Auto Industry Rebound in 2014 at Earliest

The European auto industry has suffered from dropping sales since 2010, and industry executives are finally beginning to predict a rebound. Unfortunately, but there is still no consensus on when sales will return to previous levels. 

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CEO Sergio Marchionne is optimistic. He predicts that the industry will rebound in 2014. 

"I do not think that three to five years is the term. I think that 2013 will be tough, and I suspect that if there was a resolution -- a European growth agenda -- that there will be a recovery of the markets already in 2014," said Marchionne.

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CEO Carlos Ghosn stands on the pessimistic side. He still sees uncertainty in the European market and does not see things changing for several years. 

"I don't think anybody is really foreseeing the pickup of the European market in the next two or three years. The only question is: Is it going to be bad or very bad," he said. 

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Europe Head of Product Development Barb Samardzich believes that a recovery is a few years away.  

"I think we're finally at the bottom. We'll probably skim along the bottom for a while, but then it'll take off. You know, when this industry goes down, it goes down fast. It'll make your head spin. It's like an elevator dropping. And when it goes up, it goes up equally fast," said Samardzich.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, European auto registrations fell 8.7% in January 2013 compared to the previous January. The last time auto sales were at these levels was in 1990.

The other hope is that the sustained sales slump in the EU will cause the same sales explosion that happened in the US. Eventually people are driving cars that are so old that they decide that they must buy a new vehicle. This is what happened in the US to cause sales to bounce back very quickly after the credit crisis. 

Source: Automotive News Europe