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“This year risks being a rough one for European carmakers,” announces Der Spiegel. The weekly reports on a recent study published by the Centre for Automotive Research at the Universty of Duisburg-Essen in the Ruhr the region, which is home to many of Germany’s car factories. According to the study, this year’s sales in western Europe could be down by as much as 5 per cent compared to 2012.
Only 11.9m cars are expected to be sold in Europe’s 27 member states and neighbouring free trade countries, which will make 2013 “the worst year in three decades for the European car industry,” points out the magazine.
The worst affected countries are in southern Europe, with production in France, Spain and Portugal set to decline from 62 per cent of capacity to 58 per cent between 2012 and 2013. The outlook is even worse for Italy, which is expected to reach just 49 per cent of its planned level of production for 2013. According to Der Spiegel, the long-term picture is also grim, with no improvement in prospect within the next two years.
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