The EU is having its’ problems and the auto industry is a very clear reflection of those problems. The car manufacturers have been trying, but it appears all their efforts in the Euro-zone are not bearing fruit.

Simply reading the headlines delivered by each manufacturer should make everyone question if the government leaders have a clue about what they are doing…or are they all so incompetent that a trained Chimpanzee could easily perform their job.

Here are some samples of headlines with short descriptions from many of the EU car manufacturers that I see every day.  After being inundated with these it can start to distort your views, so we all need to cautious of that fact. These headlines were randomly selected from just Autonews Europe to illustrate the point. There are some bright spots in the news, but they are far outweighed by the bad news.

When situations like this occur, not only the manufacturers, but their employees and the employees families suffer as well.

Suzuki hasn’t posted profit in Europe since 2008, report says

Suzuki has failed to post a profit for its European operations in four years and cannot say when it will cease posting losses, its regional chief told a German business m …

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/#ixzz2JsGzzAI6

Honda trims full-year profit forecast

Honda cut its full-year profit forecast as lower sales in China and Europe overshadowed the benefits from the weaker yen. Net income will likely be 370 billion yen ($4.1 …

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/#ixzz2JsHJ8E1P

Autoliv says weak European car market will dent first-quarter sales

Autoliv said its sales in the first quarter of 2013 were likely to fall 4 percent due to weak European car markets.

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/#ixzz2JsHXVEdY

Goodyear will close French plant on Europe troubles

Goodyear will close its main French plant and cut its work force in the country by 39 percent amid labor disputes and plunging auto demand in Europe. …

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/#ixzz2JsHipGld

Declining January car sales sink European upturn hopes

New-car sales extended their declines in France, Italy and Spain last month, leaving little hope of a European auto market rebound anytime soon.

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/#ixzz2JsHwpQLe

Europe: Bad and getting worse

LUCA CIFERRI: Fiat and Ford lost a combined 2 billion euros in Europe last year and both automakers expect this year to be even tougher. Ford predicts its 2013 European loss will rise to $2 billion while Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne says that Europe “perhaps has not yet hit bottom.

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/#ixzz2JsI8Bhkc

Spain new car sales fell 9.6% in January

Spanish new-car sales dropped 9.6 percent to 49,671 in January, car manufacturers’ association Anfac said.

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/section/BREAKING01?profile=&date=20130201&d=1#ixzz2JsJViUBK

Ghosn sees long European slump unless region gets competitive

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said the European auto market won’t recover before 2020 unless governments take action to make their economies competitive.

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/section/BREAKING01?profile=&date=20130130&d=1#ixzz2JsKKDtVb

VW plans further cuts in German Passat production

VW plans further temporary halts in production of the Passat in Germany in the coming weeks as a result of the weak European market.

However at the same time VW may hit their unit sales target for 2018, this year.

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/section/BREAKING01?profile=&date=20130130&d=1#ixzz2JsKWcfzH

Cutbacks at PSA and Renault meet growing resistance

Labor tensions at France’s automakers took a turn for the worse as Renault workers protested over planned cuts and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen’s restructuring plan hit a legal setback

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/section/BREAKING01?profile=&date=20130130&d=1#ixzz2JsKzEfmc

Ford posts $732 million quarterly loss in Europe, predicts worse 2013

Ford posted a fourth-quarter pretax loss of $732 million in Europe and expects 2013 to be even more difficult. Despite the troubles in Europe, the U.S. automaker had a fourth-quarter net income of $1.6 billion

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/section/BREAKING01?profile=&date=20130129&d=1#ixzz2JsLQ0IVO

PSA-Toyota Czech car production falls 20% in 2012

TPCA, the Czech car assembly plant jointly owned by Toyota and PSA said production fell by a fifth to 215,000 vehicles in 2012 due to weak European demand. The plant, which employs 3,000 workers, makes the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 minicars.

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/section/BREAKING01?profile=&date=20130129&d=1#ixzz2JsLqLDqp

PSA halts car output in Slovakia on weak demand

PSA says it halted production in Slovakia for the day on Monday and will add another four stoppage days next month in response to weak demand across Europe. The automaker makes the Peugeot 207 and Citroen C3 Picasso models at the plant in the western Slovak town of Trnava

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/section/BREAKING01?profile=&date=20130128&d=1#ixzz2JsM4Zp1f

Opel sales chief’s departure is further blow to troubled brand

Opel sales and marketing chief Alfred Rieck has quit his post, marking another high-profile departure for the troubled brand. Opel named Duncan Aldred as interim head of sales and marketing.

Read more: http://europe.autonews.com/section/BREAKING01?profile=&date=20130128&d=1#ixzz2JsMJ2f00