MOTOR INDUSTRY. European blues.(Industry overview)

Byline: David Furlonger

MOTOR INDUSTRY European blues Europe's economic uncertainty will continue to dog SA exports of built-up vehicles to that continent for the immediate future, says Honda Motor Europe president Manabu Nishimae.

Europe's market for new cars was expected to bottom out in 2011. Instead, sales so far this year are down a further 6% and Nishimae thinks the decline for 2012 as a whole will be 7%. That's bad news for SA motor companies, several of which see Europe as their main export market. The local industry is already downgrading production forecasts as a result, and Nishimae says the outlook will remain bleak until Europe sorts out its economic …