The automotive sector is often considered the engine room of Europe. The EU is home to a competitive and innovative automotive industry that drives movement across the economy – from the sourcing of raw materials and parts, through R&D and manufacturing, to sales and service after-sales. Manufacturers have trained and developed a highly skilled workforce, producing quality products for domestic and international markets. The automotive industry supports more than 2 million European jobs and an additional 10 million citizens are employed in its associated industries. Exports are estimated at more than 70 billion euros per year. The automobile industry has also established itself as a partner in sustainable development. Technological advances have provided real-time solutions, reducing harmful emissions from industrial products and production sites. Manufacturers have spearheaded significant improvements in vehicle safety and achieved their corporate social responsibility goals. The main focus and some key facts associated with the European automobile industry are as follows: Manufacturing in Europe: Vehicle manufacturing is a strategic industry in the EU, where 18.4 million vehicles including cars, vans, trucks and buses are manufactured. All OEMs together operate 208 vehicle assembly and production plants in 22 European countries. Create skilled jobs: around 13 million people work in this sector, which represents 5.3% of the total working population of the EU. The 3 million highly skilled jobs in car manufacturing correspond to 10% of EU manufacturing employment. Driving economic growth: the turnover of 839 billion euros generated by the automotive sector represents approximately 7% of EU GDP. The auto industry has swelling effects everywhere...... middle of paper ......plus, GM decided last month to pull its Chevrolet brand from Europe at the end of 2016, meaning that the Competitors will be able to try and win a share of Chevrolet's annual sales of approximately 175,000 units in the region. Europe, with nearly 300 factories in 2012 stretching from the tip of Spain to the depths of Russia, has only done half its job. Its recovery has been hampered by politicians who want to keep factories open to protect jobs. Its rebound is therefore weaker, and will be less profitable. The losses will ease this year, but will not disappear completely. “We still believe there is too much capacity and that the measures in place will not be enough to return the industry to profitability unless we see a strong market rebound. And that's not what we'll see this year,” said Falk Frey, senior vice president at Moody's, which forecasts a 3% recovery for Western Europe. (CLARK, 2014)