Europe’s car market faces five very tough years, Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper.

Carmakers with a strong focus on the European market will have no choice but to cut jobs and close factories, the newspaper cited Dudenhoeffer as saying in an advance copy of an article.

German carmakers, with the exception of General Motors (GM)’ Opel unit, will get off lightly and strengthen their position in Europe, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net