BMW expects demand for new cars in western Europe to shrink by 5% this year, its chief executive said in a newspaper interview on Tuesday (16 July).
“Overall, the market in western Europe will contract by around 5% this year and remains a huge challenge for carmakers,” Norbert Reithofer told financial daily Boersen-Zeitung, according to Agence France Presse.
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The situation could last until the middle of next year, he warned.
“Maybe we’ll see a slight pick up in the market during the second half of 2014,” Reithofer said.
He forecast BMW group’s share of business in Europe would fall from about 47% at present to 40% in coming years.
China, North America and the rest of the world would then each account for around 20% of sales.
