Auto Execs Paint Gloomy European Outlook

Most of the auto industry executives gathered for press preview days at the Geneva auto show don't expect Europe's car market to improve any time soon.

Executives from U.S. companies are some of the most optimistic.

Stephen Odell, president of Ford's European business, predicts the region's auto sales will begin a slow recovery this year. But he adds, "Who knows what happens in the second half?"

General Motors Vice Chairman Steve Girsky says Europe's economy remains "grim." The company now projects as much as a 10% drop in the region's car market in 2013. But Girsky, who also is chairman of GM's Opel unit, expects demand to hit bottom this year.

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn predicts "no good news in Europe" until 2016. The only question, he says, "is will it be bad or very bad?" But Ghosn adds that it is too early to make a downward revision to Renault's forecast for a 3%-5% drop in the region's auto sales this year.

Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says, "I don't see a glimmer of hope" for a recovery this year. In Italy, car registrations are expected to sink even lower than last year's 1.4 million units. The country's political uncertainty will only make matters worse, he opines.