These are some important headlines you might have missed recently. Take your time eading these as they unfortunately were quickly replaced by other headline news but are are very similar and from many carmakers in the EU.

Opel confirms Bochum plant to close in late 2014
General Motors Co.’s Opel unit solidified plans to close its car plant in Bochum, Germany, at the end of 2014 after workers rejected a wage freeze. It is the first shutdown of an auto factory in the country since World War II.

The Opel supervisory board approved managers’ decision on halting vehicle production at the site, the Ruesselsheim-based division said today in a statement.

Automakers will likely lower targets as German car sales plunge
Daimler and other global automakers will probably have to lower their forecasts after demand in Germany dropped the most in 2 1/2 years last month.

A sudden plunge in the German auto market, which accounts for 25 percent of the region’s deliveries, is prompting companies to increase discounting, in turn pressuring earnings.

Deliveries in Europe’s largest economy are set to decline to 3.04 million cars this year, 20 percent below the 2009 peak, according to IHS Automotive’s most recent estimate.

PSA mulls Aulnay plant closure this year, sources say
PSA/Peugeot-Citroen may shut its Aulnay plant near Paris as early as September because strikes are disrupting production, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The carmaker outlined plans last year to stop manufacturing at the Aulnay site, which employs about 3,300 full-time workers and builds the Citroen C3 subcompact, at an unspecified point in 2014 in a reorganization aimed at restoring profit as the European auto market shrinks.

Volvo to report big operating loss in China, paper says
Volvo Car Corp. is set to report a big operating loss in China for 2012 as weak sales and a costly new factory weighed on results, Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet reported on Thursday, quoting sources.

Volvo, wholly owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. since 2010, is set to report a loss of between 2 billion to 4 billion Swedish crowns ($308 million to $615 million) in China, the paper reported.

It said high costs for a nearly completed new plant in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu plus expenses related to building up a network of Chinese dealers and weak overall sales in the country were to blame.

Europe car sales drop 10% as Germany’s decline hurts VW
European car sales dropped 10 percent in March as declines at PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, Ford and Volkswagen and a steep plunge in Germany put the industry on pace for the fewest annual deliveries in 20 years.

Registrations in the EU and EFTA markets fell to 1.35 million vehicles last month from 1.5 million a year earlier. First-quarter sales dropped 9.7 percent to 3.1 million cars, industry association ACEA said.

Europe’s sales declined for an 18th consecutive month, ACEA said in a statement.

The German car-sales decline of 17 percent in March was the steepest among Europe’s five biggest auto markets, and compared with an 11 percent drop in February. The U.K., where sales increased 5.9 percent, overtook Germany in deliveries in March, according to ACEA.

“The car boom in Germany has come to an end,” said Hans-Peter Wodniok, an analyst at Fairesearch. “People have stop buying cars as consumers are much less confident of the future, especially after the latest decision on Cyprus.”

PSA bank rating cut to junk by Moody’s on Europe car-sales slump
PSA/Peugeot-Citroen’s wholly-owned bank was cut to one level below investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service today, after the ratings agency said the auto-financing unit can’t escape the European car-market contraction plaguing its parent.

The long-term rating on Banque PSA Finance’s debt was lowered by one step to Ba1 from Baa3, Moody’s said in a statement. The outlook is stable, indicating the rating won’t be reduced again soon.

PSA was cut by one step to four levels below investment grade by Moody’s on April 11 as the region’s car market is set to contract for a sixth consecutive year.

Banque PSA Finance, which was rescued last year by French government guarantees on as much as 7 billion euros in new bond sales, has been hurt because of the vehicle sales drop at PSA, Moody’s said.

Italy’s car dealerships decrease 31% in 5 years
The number of Italian car dealerships has fallen 31 percent since 2007, including a 7 percent drop last year, according to figures released today by the automotive think tank Quintegia.

According to data from Quintegia, Italy had 3,450 car dealerships in 2002, 2,950 in 2007 and 2,011 at the start of 2013.

VW, BMW, Daimler plan $25 billion hedge by building more autos abroad
With the yen weakening and Europe’s debt crisis spreading, Volkswagen Group and its German peers plan to spend more than $25 billion by 2017 to expand production outside their home region and insulate themselves from currency convulsions.

BMW, already among the largest U.S. car exporters, says it will start producing the new X4 crossover at its factory in South Carolina, in addition to the other three SUVs it makes there.

Daimler is expanding a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama, and VW’s Audi is building a $1.3 billion factory in Mexico.

Volvo CEO sees more tough times for Europe
Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson is bracing for more tough times in Europe, where the automaker’s sales fell 15 percent in the first quarter. Samuelsson, 62, who was CEO of truckmaker MAN before taking charge at Volvo last October, expects growing sales in China and a rebound in the United States will result in flat overall vehicle sales for the year. He shared his outlook with Automotive News Europe Managing Editor Douglas A. Bolduc.

Morocco bids to build auto industry for the region
At a factory in Casablanca this month, executives and officials gathered at a launch ceremony for a new car model. It was a small but significant step, Moroccan officials hope, in the country’s emergence as an auto producer for the region.

VW recall highlights perils of too much success in China
Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW all posted record global sales last year, fueled by demand in China. This year, that growth is at risk as the government in Beijing steps up scrutiny of the automakers and media outlets question their quality.

Looking for a Chinese car in Shanghai
If I were an executive at a Chinese domestic automaker, I would be very worried. Why? It is difficult to find a Chinese-brand car on the streets of Shanghai, the country’s largest city with more than 23 million inhabitants.

Shanghai is not the only city devoid of domestic vehicles, which is why Chinese automakers sold just 1.38 million units in the first quarter, leaving two-thirds of the 3.93-million-unit market to foreign automakers, according to Morgan Stanley data.