ACEA Chief Predicts 2% Sales Growth in Europe

Europe will emerge from six years of declining car sales with a 2% increase in volume this year, says ACEA President Philippe Varin.

Varin, who is expected to step down as CEO at PSA Peugeot Citroen this spring, tells reporters that global car sales should expand a "significant" 5% in 2014.

Last year registrations of new vehicles slipped 2% to 12.3 million units across Europe and 2% to 11.6 million within the EU, according to ACEA. But monthly sales have been improving since September.

Varin cautions that volume in Europe won't return to pre-recession levels nearly 16 million units in 2007 within the "foreseeable future." He says a more immediate priority is improving capacity utilization of Europe's auto industry, which averaged only 75% in 2013.