welcome to "worldwide exchange." i'm ross westgate. >> and i'm kelly evans. these are your headlines from around the world. >> beijing steps up social spending in its latest budget in the bid to boost living standards and build out china's domestic economy. >> europe agrees to an anti-money laundering audit of its banks. but the finance minister says the originalin borders on racism. >> for us, a depositor is a depositor. it does not matter where they come from. a 10% decline in car registrations in february over-shadowed the auto show in geneva. plus, hammer jeanie showcases the 4.5 million -- that is a

cool looking car. >> standard chartered sets this dividend on the back of pretax profit earnings. >> announcer: you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. february pmi, 47.9. 47.3 was the flash. it's still lower than the 48.6 in january but the pick up from the flash, the employment index 46.5, 46.3 was the flash. the final composite pmi, 47.9. >> both germany and france contributed to the higher revision. 53.3 to a little better. france is a little better, but it's still deeply in contraction at 43.137. >> spain actually got worse.

44.7. that was worse than we were looking for. 45.5. and italy, also. so, you know, if there's any growth, it doesn't really matter. >> bit of a problem, that. could do with a little bit of growth. it's interesting because we've seen this pattern where risk on/risk off, is it giving away to a dollar on/dollar off trade? if you look at what happened yesterday, it wasn't a consistent theme. we have spanish ten-year yield holding okay. i think there's -- we're still searching for the new regime. what's the new regime for it? >> it's a coalition part-time. we have part-time correlation. >> part-time correlation. >> that's what we've got. so on today's show, we're talking about that. we'll be speaking to some of the biggest names in the auto industry at the geneva auto show. carmakers unveiling their latest models. >> we'll be in brussels.

david cameron's relationship there in the spotlight. >> and the reserve bank of australia kept interest rates on hold at 3%, fighting an improved global economic outlook. >> we'll speak to the prudent i can't tellal ceo who says the market is improving upon optimism on the u.s. economy and ongoing supply. new car registrations in germany plunged 10% year on year in february, signaling slowing consumer spending. this is gm's vice chairman steven gursky defended its decision to keep its european union opal, saying that the firm is beginning to make progress and to think that you don't have to be in europe is naive. our man on the road if he geneva

motor show is steve. >> let's move straight into those comments from steve gursky previously. it is an operation, of course, that people many times have said why are they continuing with the opal operation? it's a hard market share to try and make any headway and europe is producing too many cars and weak demand, as well. let's speak to steve gushgky, vees president of gm. let's talk about gm's commitment first and foremost to opal. you're trying to turn this one around, but you're doing it against a back drop which is devastating, as far as i can see. >> we know the environment is difficult. europe is among the most sophisticated car consumers in the world. and we feel like we're going to be able to win here and win globally.

we should be able to make money with this. >> you're being squeezed by the premium brands on one side, the value brands on the other. you've got 26 new brands coming out. how are you going to fight back with these models? >> the way we win is pay attention to the customer. we have great new products. our products win award. we have a brand new convertible here which is dynamite. we're pretty excited about this stuff. >> carl thomas, you're the man who has to take over this european operation and continue working with the customers, with the management teams you've got in place and with the unions, as well. and it's the latter point that at the moment, if you have to cut costs aggressively, which you do to compete, how is that relationship with the unions going to last? because do you need to do what you did stateside and basically cut a lot of capacity. >> we did have a lot of achievements in the last year in volvo, britain and germany. we have an agreement now how to

go forward with all the locations in germany. but the most important point is the product. we are launching four premiers here and the product will make the difference. >> it will make the difference. but the overcapacity in europe is staggering. i read a statistic. i think it was 83% of usage in 2007. we didn't have a crisis then, by the way. now we have a 75% usage. there is still massive amounts of overcapacity. why not do what gm did in the states and cut, cut, cut aggressively? >> well, i think we are cutting, but also we're trying to fill the factories. so we're entering into a new segment. we're entering with 90,000 autos already. we created a new segment for small suv and our adam is a beautiful lifestyle car. it's part of an all new segment. >> we did announce that we are not going to be producing cars after 16.

so we are taking care of some capacity. we've talked about producing non-opal branded product in our plants here, so we are addressing our capacity issues and we're addressing our cost issues. >> do you know morrey sailor? >> i've read his comments. >> i'm sure you know him, as well. why is he wrong, then? he's been having a pop at french workers, hasn't he? why is he wrong about european workers? >> it's about productivity. cost is one piece of the equation, quality and another piece of the kwakz. in our german facilities, we get good called yeah and good productivity. again, i say it's the product. what else could you want? >> let's talk about financials. i said a couple stats off camera and you are swift to come down on me there. you've said it's going to be break even by 2015.

that's not quite correct. is it? >> we said we're going to be break even by mid decade. that's the plan, that's the goal. >> sales are still being -- in 2013 after 2012 which was the worst year for 17 years for european automotive, as well. do things get worse before they get better? >> actually, i don't think so and i don't hope so because we were able to grow in eve r europe with recommendivety to the market. and as i said, with entering the new segment, that can make the difference. >> how far are you from where you want to be having got yourself back on track from the events of 2009? how far is gm away from where it used to be? >> well, the u.s. is doing great. our china operations are doing great. latin america is improving. we know we still have more to do.

our profit margins are the where the best in class are. but we have a plan to get there. >> at the corporate level and indeed at a consumer level, do you think the events we're seeing at capitol hill, the lack of progress and the stumbling we're doing, one sequester to the next, do you think that is preventing companies like yourself and the consumer at the end of the day from buying products? >> i think uncertainty is never good for the consumer. we're seeing a lot more places here and in italy where you have significant kwern with regard to recovery. but so far so well, the economy seems to be doing recently well. >> i had one coo on earlier who said what's going on in italy? they've pulled the rug out from under our feet. >> we are strong in germany. germany i think is doing a little better. same is true for britain and

also are we going into new market like russia and turkey, emerging markets. >> guys, we have to leave it there. thank you so much for your time. i really appreciate it. thomas and steve, we're on the opal stand. we'll speak to carlos gohsn in a few moments time. >> what we're asking is what car model or feature are you most excited about v. the lamborghini, i -- >> could that be yourself? >> i didn't know this, all the car name res named after spanish bullfighters. >> yeah, of course. gave us a heads up about that. >> not the bullfighters, the bulls. >> oh, the bulls themselves. >> yeah. it took 24 staffs, tough guy,

that one. >> oh, wow. it doesn't even look like a car. it looks tech logical batmanesque. i think i'd have trouble getting in and out of that, one, as well. >> yeah. i think i'll stick with the bus. moving on, beijing says it's ready to deliver boost in spending of 7.5% this year. wen jiabao stresses it's important to keep the economy on its toes. china is looking at fiscal deficit of over $190 billion this year, or about 2% of gdp. we know says china is aiming for a cpi increase of 3.35%. eunice is covering this for us and joins us now from beijing.

which one are people seizing on most? >> people are seizing on that 3.5% target that he was looking at for the broad money supply, as well. so it's an indication in the government year is going to be more aggressive about innation. people have been focusing on that number on the budget deficit that is -- it is going to look bigger. but it's still 2% of gdp, which some economists here say isn't too alarming and especially if you look at the breakdown of how they're spending the money. it looks as though the government wants to allocation money monies to the health care system and it looks as though they're putting their money where their mouth is in order to try and make sure they address some of the important issues that premeem wen jiabao had talked about this morning at the

opening ceremony. most leaders take a look at what happened in the past year and lay out the goals for the coming year. this time today, premier wen jiabao recently defended his record but also talked about some of those challenges ahead, especially some of the social issues. this is what he told the delegates who were there. >> we are facing many problems. the economic development is increasingly in conflict with resource conservation and environmental protection. the development gap between urban and rural areas and between regions is large. so are income disparity between individuals. social security, medical care, housing, the environment, food and drug safety, workplace

safety and public order affect people's interests. some people still lead hard lives. there many systemic and constitutional obstacles developing in a trvrmational. the -- some areas are prone to correction. >> another number was the military increase in the budget. the chinese have decided to increase their military budget by 10.7%. now, this number is less of a rise than the previous year and the year before that. but it still is double digit growth. that is concern among the region as well as with the folks back in washington. guys. >> eunice, thanks very much for that. italy sparking a lot of chatter on the social media website, as

well, about whether they're doing enough on human rights. the latest data shows pmi fell last month. there is also swelling in india's service sector as the services pmi came in at 54.2 in february down from 57.5 the month before. analysts say there's still, as well. it's stilly a bright spot in its economy. ross. >> meanwhile, here we are, an hour and 15 minutes into the trading day. there's a lot of green on european stocks. only about 25 stocks in negative territory. the ftse and 1100 yesterday was down 0.5%. right now, we're up nearly 11%,

6,403. banks, resources doing particularly well today. so despite continuing negative news, these markets wants to keep line up. xetra dax 1.6%. the ibex up 1.4%. even the ftse mib up around 2%, 300 points higher. gilt yields backing up, steady at 4.74. ten-year spanish yields, 5.03% is where we stand. so just still under that 27, 26 basis point spread which we hit. currency markets, that friday low was 1.2966. dollar/yen, still in the range between 9 0 and 1933.

reserve bank of australia kept rates down. the aussie the priced in a slim change. that is where we are right now in this european trade. let's recap what happened in asia today. sixuan joins us for the first time today. hi, sixuan. >> thank you, ross. asian markets reclaimed some of yesterday's loss round ending in the green. the shanghai composite rebounded from a two-month low. banking shares made of combat as striking fears began to ease. this after outgoing premier wen jiabao said china will increase its fiscalpending to keep growth at 7%. she could then gain 11.5% after the lender which is controlled

by hsbc holdings reported a better than expected 15% rise in its 2012 profits. in japan, the reflationary xwraut further momentum as the leadership gets under way at theback of japan. the nikkei end dollars modest. unipost posteded a nearly 10% year on year jump and domestic sales elsewhere last month. south korean chipmakers helped the kospi in the green, but only marginally. in aus trail yab asx's 200 finished stronger by a 3% with banks and retailers leading the rally following retail and export data. india's sensex still in action now trading higher by 1 is.3%. back to you. >> okay. sib want, thank you very much

for that. still today on cnbc.com, china's demand for resources might be volatile. wine they can't get enough of. why out why one sessy group thinks the trend will continue. there was considerable doubt of when the pay plan will be implemented into law. more details on our website on that, as well. and president hugo chavez stems down and it could create volatility in global equity markets. is that the up or down side from current levels? cnbc.com for more. ross. >>. and still to come on the show, the future of china's growth lies in the wallets of its consumers, according to our next guest. see you in a few moments. [ male announcer ] ah... retirement. sit back, relax,

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. welcome back to the program. china's we know jaw boy set out a program which places consumers at the heart of the country's economic future.

joining us now is lucas phillipo chief economist at natixis. nice to see you again. were you surprised to see such strong focus on consumers here in this outgoing speech? >> surprised? no. i was more surprised by the action than the words. let me be clear. so basically, there has been this montra about increasing consumer spending and consumer contribution to gdp growth in china for many years. but it's mostly been words. and apart from increasing minimum wages to where no real measures to make this happen, to make the contribution of consumption, of private consumption to decrease over increasing gdp in china. two or three days ago, some new curbs on real estate, all these are measured factuality and actual measures that are going to have an impact on consumption.

so i am surprised by the action. i'm positively surprised about the action. words, we have been listening to them for five years and nothing happened until today. >> following your point about property curbs are going to help bolster broadly speaking consumer push chasing power in the years ahead. >> you ask any chinese why they are saving so much. one of the reason is the absence of social security, especially for private sector employees. but the other reason is that they have to secure a home for their family. house price ves increased so much that the effort that is required in saves money for purchasing one home is significant. many, many years of next. so if you are able to curb house prices, if you are able to give, really, affordable houses to young chinese, then young chinese will consume more. this is what they should do

because young people consume more of their income. this is what should happen and this is what we lack in these prices are curbed by policy china. >> i guess then the question becomes whether or not these measures don't sound like they're necessarily a game changer will be successful in that regard. really, how much is -- you're talking about very fundamental, the sense that the chinese have to save in order to have a home for their families down the road. will the chinese, then, do you think become much more aggressive to help change attitudes here? >> kelly, this is gist a drop in the ocean, basically. this is the beginning, but this is action. then, of course, also the plan that was announced three weeks ago is just the beginning. because this cole cope and the breath of the plan is not yet enough to reduce significantly

come the income distribution inequality. so more action will follow. i'm not saying that you just curb prices. i'm just saying that house purchase and the worries about the continuing increase in house prices was one of the main factor of consumption, of savings on the young people. especially in the cities, especially in the large cities in china. and so this is just encouraging news. >> one reason. i know you've mentioned these growth targets will be telling. time will tell. thanks so much. a number of earnings out we'll focus on today. standard chartered shares posting higher. the company showing an increase in full year profit. it raised its dividend and said it's still a good start this

year. it hiked its dividend more than 10%, 8 cents a share. standard chartered reported a drop of 7% in the bonus pool to reflect performance as well as the impact of legal settlement in the united states. shares in dhl rising. it's eecting an improvement after posting better than expected q4 results. taxes were up 38%. speaking earlier on cnbc, the ceo says he sees continued strength in demand at home and abroad. >> definitely asia has helped us. but also the business in germany has continued to grow very, very strong. joef all, we have seen the same trends as we have seen in the previous quarters. so it's all intact and we don't

expect any major change for those trends in 2013. >> all right. we just got uk services pmi about to come out, as well, at the moment in the uk. kelly, you've got a -- >> oh, my -- wait a minute. >> february services pmi, 51.8el, the highest in september. >> i thought that 67.6 figure was the headlines. >> no. that was the expectation. 51.8 versus 51.5 in january. better than the poll of 51. take the two together because we saw the manufacturing pmi down and construction pmis were weaker than we might have thought. they point to 0.1% growth in the uk economy in the fist quarter. this is according to chris william son in the market. the expect ages pmi, 56.6 in february, the high since may last year. that is a good upturn.

the services side in the bulk of the economy in the uk, britain has held up extraordinarily well. you didn't guess irnd say relative to what we've seep in the economy. granted it's the employment figures which continue to hold up okay, so despite the fact that headline gdp is weak, despite the fact that they're aimed at spurring exports, aimed at spurring investments, we're still get ago very consumer services spending direction. if a lot of is that spending is happening because it's on necessity webs framp, if the food and the retailers are holding up okay, health care is holding up okay, but it's not gang busters. >> and it's interesting to see how the weather had an impact on the other issues.

when you are saw the manufacturing and construction numbers, this number may just make a pause on thursday. we'll see. sterling is certainly stronger on the news. >> look at that, back over 151. we have seep it dip below 1.50 in the last week or so ago. >> so more reaction on that to come. also still to come, britain let's set for an early fight against eu's cap on bankerses' bonuses pep. >> we'll be live from brussels when we come back. don't go anywhere.

these are the headlines from around the grocery. beijing sets up social spending in its latest budget in a bid to boost living standard and build out china's domestic economy. >> bank bonuses top the agenda in brussels. the irish finance minister saying there's little scope to accommodate the demands. a 10% decline in car registrations in february over-shadows the auto show in geneva. and standard chartered shares rising after the bank

raises its dividend on the back of ten-straight year of record earnings with a profit of $6.9 billion. plenty more to come from the motor show. steve is down there. european stocks having a good day. we were down 0.5% for the ftse yesterday. up 0.8% this morning. being outshown by the zex ra dax. >> let's see if the same thing is true across the bond space. for the most part, yes, we are seeing things following in spain and italy. look at that 5.03. will this be the day that spain falls below 5%? that spread is still holding at about 38 basis points for now. >> and on the currency markets, euro/dollar, firmer today as you might expect. 1.3065. we hit that sort of low last week on friday. 1 is.2966. the three-month low.

sterling/dollar is slightly strong, as well, held up by better than expected services pmi which we just received some six minutes or so ago. dollar/yen, 0.9377. european finance ministers have agreed to push for a bailout for cypress. to get the cash through, the country's newly elected government agreed to an independent audit of its banking system to make sure it comply wes international laws on money laundering. cypress's finance minister wouldn't be drawn on which officials pushed hardest for the you a udit. >> for us, a depositor is a depositor. nt does not matter where they came from. they have deposited their money into our banking system and they should have treated with

respect. it would border racism to begin distinguishing developmenters by ethnic origin. >> those comments followed a secret meeting at the time of finance ministers where we son learned what exactly they were discussing. the negotiations look pretty contentious. some are pushing for a restructuring and that is something the government wants ruled out. >> there is no way we can entertain the idea of any kind of air cut to any kind of deposit. that is our firm position and we have communicated that. we have said that we believe that this woor r woor would be an accident in the eurozone not caused by markets, but a self-inflicted wound, a

self-inflicted ka taft pea. >> joining us for more from broguel is mr. philips. how unusual was it to have this secret meeting last night? you've heard some of these comments now from the minister. he says there's no way we could entertain any kind of haircut on any kind of deposit. what happens now? >> i think secret meetings are quite frequent. i mean, in the substance, i do think that there would be a case for a haircut in the deposits because if something is guaranteed more than that, it shouldn't be the taxpayer who foot's the bill. >> the trouble, though, i guess is we have to find some way of lowering the total size of cypress's debt burden.

what are the other options to do so. >> if they don't go for larger -- of bank critters and very large depositors, then indeed, the size of the bailout has to be very high to push the public opportunity ratio at a very high level which may risk availability. so i do think it would be necessary for cypress. >> what are the implications for the other programs in europe and future bailouts or bail-ins? >> i mean, the tendency now that there will be more bailing in the future and you can look at what happened in ireland. in ireland, they wanted to protect each individual bondholder of banks. as a consequence, the irish government accumulated 40% of gdp debt just from the failing bank which clearly pushed the debt to gdp ratio to a very high

level. i think that was a mistake. >> so euro group ministers requested by ireland and portugal for more time to affect their bailouts. meanwhile, officials say italy's political dead lock wasn't even discussed, talking to cnbc after the meeting, the french finance minister insisted he wasn't worried about the situation in italy. >> i am not kshd about the impact on the eurozone of the situation in italy. i'm convinced that this country, as you just said and they also know how to face political crises. but what i am concerned about is what is the meaning or the reason for this vote? clearly, it shows that it is a vote anti-crisis, that the people of europe, of course, they accept the idea of physical

consolidation and they also want hope, prospective consolidation and growth. all eyes will be on the federal chairman and osbourn is expected to call for a flexible bonus cap to protect the city. but he won't be able to block the proposal from becoming a european law if most member states vote in favor. if the chancellor fails to secure a watered down agreement, lopped's big banks could reportedly considering suing the eu over the pay cap. the fnlt times have report they have received advice that the new laws could be struck down in court because of a treaty that forbids regulating pay in member states. i want to get your view on this bonus cap. how do you think it's going to pay out when we get to the final law? i wonder what you think about

that legal challenge. >> now, the bonus cap which caps the bonus at a percent of salary would not be a regulation. and if you've seen by lawyers in the commission and i think they are right, it's a kind of macro prudential measure because in good times, banksers take a huge bonus. in that time, the taxpayers have to bail out the banks. so i think there will be internet case for capping bank bon bonuses. >> thanks for that. moving on now to australia where the central bank has kept its main cash rate hit a record low of 3% today. are the low rates giving consumers confidence to open their purses? >> as expected, the reserve bank of australia left things

unchanged at 3% and kept its easing bias in place. kwlen stevens pointed to signs on of stabilization and in the u.s. and said it was pruitt to hold lakety. we saw it just there. that's the biggest increase in seven months which essentially shows confidence is improving. on the easing bus, it was all about inflation. saying the noninflation outlook would have forced scope to ease further if there is an aging in demand. analysts are looking for a further cut in rates later on this year. we've got gdp numbers out tomorrow, the consensus sitting at 2% in q4. >> the bank of japan leadership nominations are out and now it's time for the candidates to step into the limelights. today was the turn of the

department governor. >> the deflation fight is gaining momentum in japan as we move through a leadership transition of the central bank. the government's nominees for the new government and his policies are set to be uprotered by the president. the largest opposition democratic party of japan has decided to approve the nomination of kuroda. the deputy governor comeny hudashi nakasoul and the director of the -- >> okay. i think we have an issue there. thanks for that. we'll take a short break. still to come, we'll speak to the ceo of renault nissan about his vehicles and in his only words, why the u.s. market has

been really bad last year. >> if you looked at the spanish market, it's drop a million cars in five years from 1.7 to 700,000. the italian markets dropped a misdemeanor cars in the same period.

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italy's new political star beppe grillo left a hotel and at least one journalist was injured. extraordinary pictures as grillo's party ruled out a coalition with berlusconi or bersani. look at the gridlock he's got trying to get into his car. yes got treatment from a "new york times" profile. you can see there why italy watchers are concerned that if they call the next election within three, six months time before the end of the year that he might do even better.

>> and what does that mean for the other party? >> and meanwhile, i hear clowns are upset with steinbrueck in germany. >> just a couple of days ago and brought to our attention this morning, german clowns are insulted to be compared to berlusconi. >> no one is happy. great prime minister antoinis samaras put a frail discussion on hold yesterday as he shook hands and pledged to double trade coming up in the innocence three years. samaras said recent disputes between the neighboring countries have included a battle over hydro carbons last month. now, the u.s. and china have reportedly reached a tentative agreement to put north korea for last month's nuclear test. u.n. diplomates say they hope to have a draft resolution and a

vote t matter by the end of the week. no word yet on what the punitive move may be or whether dennis rodman has weighed in on them. the "new york times" says the senate permanent committee on investigations could ask a former cfo and other senior executive toes testify at a hearing later this month. the panel report is due out on the ides of march, march 15th. he's not the focus of separate probes into the trading loss. >> is there a sort of music, is there ides of march music? >> if not, we can create some. citigroup cio michael corbatt makes his first presentation today since taking the job. analyst expect him to focus on near term financial goals and cutting costs and not a new long-term strategy.

he may also address concerns about how he plan toes wind down the city holdings unit which has been a drag on earnings. citi stop stock up 2%. banks having a pretty good day. >> and let's take a look at what's on the agenda in asia. a new central bank meeting. dozens of them this week, it seems. in australia, rising resource exporter could make a difference when fourth quarter gdp is released. key earnings to watch out for out of hopping congress, the mainland's largest property developer, soho china along with ck life services. meanwhile, european markets having a having good day. the ftse 100 is off 1 is%. today it's up 0.75%. the ftse mib today up nearly 2%. as far as the bonds are concerned. we've still got that narrow split between spain and italy. >> yep. but we are seeing italy fall in line, 4.76%.

5.04% for spain. that's what we're watching. does it go below 5? >> and renault nissan says the market for cars in europe was pretty bad or really bad in january or february. let's get back out to the motor show. steve is there is geneva. >> yeah, thanks, ross. it was a mixed performance from renault in january. it did outperform the wider market declines. still a decline of 6.1%. let's speak to the man in charge of renault and renault nissan more broadly. carlos, very nice to see you today, sir. >> thank you. >> of all the estimates for 201 i'm reading at the moment, you're up until now the most optimistic i've seen. opal is in the region of 3% decline for 2013. are you sticking with that for europe? >> yeah. it is true that we have been a little bit surprised, negatively

surprised by the fact that january and february the market has been very disappointing with the minus 9%. we don't think that it's going to continue at this level. we still see the overall year 2013 as tough and in decline, but we don't think that the magnitude is going to continue throughout the years. but, you know -- >> tell us, what is it that you're seeing that a lot of the pundits can't see about the optimism. it's the worst last year last year in 17 years. it was the worst january i think since 1990, since the reference began. what are you seeing that they're not? >> look, i think that a lot of uncertainty that usually you see in europe is being removed. i remind you that one year ago or 1 1/2 years ago the questioning if the euro was going to stay or not. today it's up. people are questioning if spain, italy, greece are going the stay in the european community. today, there is no more of this discussion. people who are discussing about are the internal production deficit are going be executed. are the governments going to be

serious about it? well, they are serious about it and therefore, seeing troubles. in a certain way, i'm not saying the situation is good. but what i'm saying is we're seeing action taking place at the level of the different government in order to get europe out. .a lot of agreements with competitiveness being signed. spain has signed a lot of agreement. france is signing a lot of agreement. so we're seeing a lot of construction taking place. that makes me a little bit -- >> herein lie tess problem and you'll be aware of this because of your japanese car sales, as well. if governments put stimulus in in whatever shape or form. when stimulus is drawn away, that demand is going to be there for a certain amount of time, anyway. as we're seeing in japan, with your sales which are falling a little bit, as well, nissan, remains if stimulus is taken out. car sales fall off a cliff almost. >> stimulus is not here to create additional demand. stimulus is here at the moment where you need it the most.

you don't get your prize. you have time to prepare for when stimulus is removed, you are ready to face it. so i don't think anybody thinks stimulus is going to create something out of the box. but it allows you to decide where you're going to come from. >> tell me what the big problem is in europe. is it demand or supply? the lack of demand is also very empowering because of what we're seeing. we just discussed in terms of austerities. the overcapacity still or positive on inspect. >> no. i think the biggest problem in europe is the demand. the number one problem in europe is the fact that the demand is shrinking has shrunk in 2012 by 8% and continued to be on the same trend in 2013. the capacity is the problem. there is a second and third level of magnitude. >> what about workers, the workers' rights, as well? we know what the ceo thinks about workers.

flexible pay, shorter, longer working hours and a more international working environment, how successful is that? >> look, you know, france is our home country. we have a lot of -- in france. so we are engaged and we are discussing with the government, with the unions not only so they do what strike at the level of the nation to make it more competitive, but also to make sure that the level remains in france, our operation in france are competitive. this is not about the next six months or the next one year. this is about the mid and the long-term of our ability. so, yet, i think the only way you can get something fixed is through a consensus, is through a common effort. >> obviously, a few more questions. one more question is about you and your remuneration. you've taken a deferred payment, 30 3ers of your salary to 2016, as well. do you think it's right that european politicians are more and more getting involved in private sector pay? >> i think the only way you're going to get the politician out is to get the bottom line

solution which is make the shareholders vote on the pay. when the smar holders will vote -- >> it's nothing for the french government -- >> the government can always interfe interfere. the government can just say, look, you're at -- >> and they can't do anything. >> that's fine. but in terms of fixing, the ceo, it should be the people that are paying for it, shareholders. >> why is this the great car for the future? >> because in one car you have three cars, you have an suv, a sedan and an sev. >> exciting. >> very exciting. >> carlos gohsn, ceo of renault nissan. the great rival is peugeot citron and we'll be speaking to the ceo of that company coming up on closing aboing bell.

>> steve, thanks so much. we'll be back. we're going to head out to beijing, as well, with the government pledges to boost spending in order to meet its target of 757% growth this year. can it be done?

welcome to "worldwide exchange." i'm kelly evans. >> and i'm ross westgate. >> beijing steps up spending and build out china's domestic economy. >> better than expected growth for britain's financial services sector in february. the pmi shows the fastest expansion in five months. that's pushed the pound higher against the dollar. a 10% drop in german car registrations in germany over-shadowing the start of the geneva motor show. plus, hammer gooelg gelam lambo new vehicle. >> and the earnings for standard

chartered, $6.9 billion. . . retail sales out of the uk, up 2% on the month. down minus 1.3% on the year. that's much stronger than the plus 0.3% we were forecasting. it's the largest month since april 2011. the rise in nonfood sales arched since november 20011. here is the kicker on this. they may be flatted by new base year. so theme reconfigure d the base. >> at least there's some strength there that we're not picking up in manufacturing or

construction. but i want to pick up with what's happening as we start to turn our attention to the u.s. session today. take a look at this, the dow jones industrial average which is taking futures into account. 14,153. the nominal high is 14,164, i believe. so we're talking about being within ten or 11 points. currently taking out those nominal highs. let me emphasize nominal because on real terms we would still be below those records from 2011. nevertheless, expect a lot of market attention on this one today. let's take a look at what's been happening overnight. it has been a strong session across the globe and that should offering momentum as trade gets under way. that often sets some of the declines that we saw yesterday in what was more of a risk off attitude. certainly across europe, trade was mixed. but today it's up with the ftse, atting 0.75%. the xetra dax hitting 1.7%. the cac 40 up 1.7%. spain, as well, the mib in italy

adding almost 2%. >> and we've seen yields lower today for spain and italy. spanish yields just 5.0, 4.7%. ten-year italian yields, 4.76%, as you can see. gilt yields are higher. they were higher, anyway, because stocks went higher, as well, post that good services pmi number out of the uk. we had disappointing manufacturing and construction pmi made us thought that possibly we would have a negative quarter. and then we got a better than expected services number. maybe just takes the pressure of the bank to do anything this thursday in terms of extending its qe program. and it may just mean, as well, that the uk avoids another quarter of contraction. that is where we stand on that. quick check of the currency

markets, aussie/dollar, 1.0236. dollar/yen, 93.12. not far away from the high we hit on february 5th. >> euro/dollar, 1.3054. a little firmer on euro/dollar. that is where we are right now in europe. so let's recap. you've just joined us. what happens in asia today, sixuan? >> thank you, ross. asian markets staged a strong rebound after yesterday's losses closed in the green. in china, the latest daetd from hsbc show services pmi fell to 52.1. analysts say the drop is mostly due to beijing's clamp down on spending and can distortions from the lunar new year holidays. the shanghai composite rebounded over 2% from a two-month low. banking shares made a strong comeback as tightening fears began to ease. beijing extended a pilot program and loud two more banks to start

fund management businesses. the hang seng finished marginally in the green. the hang seng bank gained 1.5% london support to the index after the lender reported a better than expected 15% rise in its 2012 profits. still it journd performed its parent company hsbc which fell below these results. in japan, the nikkei 225 closed at its 4 1/2 year high bolstered again by hopes of aggressive easing. the nominee for boj deputy governor said it's possible to hit inflation target of 2% in two years. retailing shares jumped 5.5% today after its clothing chain posted a nearly 0% year a year jump in same-store sales last no. elsewhere, south korea's kospi ended higher by 0.2% with technology stocks leading the gaens. in australia, retail companies helped to lift the asx 200

higher by 1.3% after posting the strongest january sales growth in six years. india's sensex just shut shop ending 11.3% higher. >> thanks, sixuan. outgoing premier wen jiabao expressed it's important to keep the economy on an even keel. consumers replaced the heart of the cup's economic future. with the very latest on the national people's congress, eunice rejoins us from beijing. eunice, it sounds like china is trying to go the way of america circca 1995? >> well, that's right. it looks as though the government is trying to build a better social safety net. we saw that in how the new budget is being allocated. there's much more spending on health care as well as education

and even cleaning up the environment. i don't know that you can see right now, but it's pretty polluted, especially here in beijing. now, what the government has outlined is what you had suggested, the -- it reaffirmed the economic growth target. one thing people have been latching on to here is the fact that the government lowered the inflation target from 4% to 3.5%. and while doing that, they also lowered the broad money supply target from 14% to 13%. and that combination is leading a lot of economists here to believe that the government is going to act preemptively this year in order to reign in inflation. one of the things he told the 3,000 delegates listening to him today -- >> translator: we are facing many problems.

the economic development is increasingly in conflict with resource copser vacation and environmental protection. the development gap between urban and rural areas and between regions is large and so are income disparities between individuals. social problems have increased markedly and many problems in the areas of education employment, social security, medical care, housing, the environment, food and drug safety, workplace safety and public order affect people's interests. some people still lead hard lives. there are many systemic and institutional obstacles to developing in a scientific way. the transformation of government functions has not been carried out. and some areas are prone to corruption. >> now, another number people are focused on was the military spending. china has increased the military spending by 10.7%. this sounds like a very large

number. it is. it's double digit growth. but at the same time, it is still less than what we saw last year and the year before. so the chinese authorities here have been actually quite frustrated saying that they feel they can'tly had to explain themselves and that any spending they say is for peaceful purposes. nevertheless, the greater double digit number res sure to innerve the folks here in china as well as the united states. >> eunice from ra very smoggy bay ying, thank you very much.the. earnings season is wrapping up in the u.s. and europe. what does that mean? christy, before we get into earnings, per se, you know, equity markets can't get knocked. >> morning, ross. >> there's still a lot of risk appetite. >> well, the risk appetite, it's interesting how that risk appetite has been emerging in

the last three months. we've got less than 20 business days to go to the end of this quarter. >> was it four or five years ago that the bank of england lowered rates for the first time? >> that's four years ago. the policymakers started the process of saying, markets need to recognize that we're now on side to deal with the situation. we've gone into these crisis phases late 2007, 2008, the lehman issue, everything. nobody believes that we can go up from here. warren buffett, i'm sure, will be referring to it again. it's been four years for this rally and there's a lot of people coming through at the end of the first quarter 2013 not having participated very much in that process. >> absolutely.

>> so the idea of risk on/risk off is we're getting back to a normal relationship between taking investment risk for return which is not measurable danger. the real risks we've faced t have been those external risks. what is there's a collapse? these are the externallty risks whether it's a flight to quality unrisk. >> so this is exactly what we were talking about off the top of the show, which is if you look at a trading session like yesterday's, it wasn't a strong risk on/risk off core late trade. commodities were weaker. how do you as kind of a fund manager figure out where and how markets are moving on a day-to-day basis? >> 30% of the euro stoxx 600 is

still in ways stocks. and so, therefore, the headline index going sideways, sterling is going down as much as it's been about people being receipt sent about chasing that early stage momentum of january when we saw the whole market on a tear. so the currency issue is an important one depending on where your own benchmarks are. ultimately, it's the dollar earnings the folks have been focused on saying this is a fact that if it's sustained, it's important. currencies are an important overlay. from a strategy point of view, i think the market is not overextended from a value perspective. >> and we want to get into a couple of those specific names, too. chris will stay with us and we'll have more in just a bit. u.s. carmakers have their foot on the gas. what's their destination in europe? stay tuned. with the spark cash card

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>> you are watching "worldwide exchange." beijing steps up social spending as it looks to build out china's domestic economy. uk services pmi jumped in january beating expectations and showing the fastest expansion in five months. chattered heights dips dividends on the back of its

tenth successive record year of earnings. >> shares in glencore and xstrata trading higher today. the groups reported a full year drop in profits. it matched analyst expectations. could be the last time the two companies report results separately before their merge her. glencore saw its net income down 7.5% after booking impairment charges stemming from the reclassification of its stake. it boosted a big drop in profits because of impairment net income almost 08% lower in 2012. christine is still with us. i don't know what you think of these guys individually or the money sector. >> it's interesting. the mining sector, these numbers have come in, as your headlines suggest, in line with market expectations. the market has been very quick to punish people that disappoint

expectations. in reality, when you come in with what you were saying you were going to be doing, we know the all merger situation, we're going to go into that strange situation of organic growth. people have been stripping out the bid to try and understand what's going on for a few courses yet. the mining sector started to look good from a value perspective to us. i think what's coming out of the news, coming out of china is relevant in this regard. he think we're seeing the negative story. i think the rebalancing from an economic standpoint, again, has been well flagged. we shouldn't be sort of panicking. tomorrow's expectations change around quarterly gdp figures. we should be seeing this is the progressive economy in a different direction. then you've got those opportunities like the sell off in relth in terms of the chinese housing market. those are opportunities in sectors like resources where the opportunities are still strong, still improving and to that

extent, you know, this news flow gives the opportunities i think to get engaged rather than worry about them. >> okay. chris, stick around. we'll take a short pause. we're going to get to a beak, as well. >> i think we're going to talk about autos. we've got introduces coming up. i also want to draw people's attention to what we're seeing. dow jones industrial average adding 40 points. we're just about 10 points away from taking out those nominal highs. carfirmation. only hertz gives you a carfirmation. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in, the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the spef hertz.

europe's struggling auto sectors continue to weigh on u.s. automakers such as general motors and ford. gm is reportedly tackling its european woes by utilizing excess capacity at its oakland plants to produce chevrolet, the company's biggest global brand, traditionally associated with the american market. steve is in geneva with more for us. susan is joining us now. really lovely to get you today to talk to us about what you guys are doing to reinvigorate your european traffic. you, like a lot of the brands here, are seeing sales in the u.s. picking up globally.

ite once again, it's europe that's the problem. >> it's a very challenging market right here in europe. and i think one of the things you have to do in a challenging market is to look for opportunities. so what we're going to do at chevrolet is continue with our product defensive. we're going to introduce five new products here in western and central europe in the 2013 calendar year. one of them is the brand new chevrolet track, which is a small suv. that's in a segment that's going to grow in double digits throughout the rest of the calendar year. tough market. you look for the opportunities and you try and exploit them. >> we've got this car over here. look at this car over here. this is the convertible. this is a brand new car. tell us all about this and you're launching this today in geneva, aren't you? >> yes. this morning, we introduced the world premother of the chevrolet corvette sting ray convertible. this is an incredible machine and it represents the full of our country. >> this is about brand and

putting new products on the market this year. not only in europe, but globally, as well. what about the cost of production? that's a major issue for gm and for a lot of the european futures. do you think you have the right kind of cost structure at the moment? >> right now we're sourcing products from both the united states, like corvette, camaro, and then we source some products from korea ya. you have to get the manufacturing equipment right, but you have to make sure you have the right credibility, quality and durability. for chevrolet, we want to represent good value for the money for the consumers. at the moment, we think we're okay from that standpoint. >> what about the sales picture? your sales in january fell over 30% in january. there's a reason for that. and i'm very interested if you can share with consumers why they fell so aggressively. >> yeah. our business was down for the first month of the calendar

year. there is reason for that. when you're involved in the challenging market where there's a lot of price competition, a lot of money being spent on incentives, we decided that it was more prudent for us as a brand that's on a growth pattern to focus on the retail portion of the market. this is very similar to the same play we did in the united states when we faced the global economic crisis, which was to back away from daily rental, back away from some fleet which tends to be quite costly and focus on the retail consumers. so i'm the most not surprised to see our business down in january and february, but it's prudent in terms of trying to protect profit and margins. >> do you think that the european car industry is doing something very, very badly wrong here and not reducing capacity as aggressively as you went through yourself and you're involved in the whole situation in 2008, 2009 and 2010, as well? and the brutal sizing of the business there, sizing of costs, europe doesn't appear willing to take those same kind of bold measures. >> well, a comment that i would

make to your viewers because i think this is important, both the united states and europe both face the same challenge with respect to overpa pasoverc but the solutions were different. in the united states, you ended up with two very big players, one of them being ourselves went through bankruptcy and restructured our company. but without a single event to be the catalyst for that, it's going to take a lot longer. >> sales were pretty good at the start of the year. what is the strategy there? >> our strategy for china is to continue with growth, growth, growth, and it's going to be fueled by great brands and continuing to introduce new products quarter after quarter after quarter. >> susan, i understand you watch cnbc and cnbc global anyway, so that's fantastic, as well. >> i do. you're a fan of ours and we're a fan of yours, thank you.

>> thanks very much for your time. let me hand you back to the studio. >> interesting. steve, thanks very much for that. one of the questions they're asking is what car model feature are you most excited about? e-mail us, worldwide@cnbc.com. tweet us, as well. >> surprise us. involve your market moving thoughts. what we want to do is focus attention briefly on what's happening with the dow jones industrial average. futures at this point is up by 43 points, 14.154 is the level. that means we are just 10 points away from open from taking tout nominal highs, 14,164 hit in october 2007. the nominal intraday high was closer to the 14,200 level. but you can expect -- you should brace yourself for a lot of headlines if/when we punch through this one today. >> yeah. so the u.s. equity market is continuing to attract investors for returns, as well.

it's equity secured close of more than $10 billion in february signaling the strongest stops on record. this according to reents blackrock data. as we approach those all-time highs, as well, chris is still with us. you, were you in new york the last time we hit that target? >> yeah. when i dow hit that level, happens to be in new york at the time and you couldn't move for tv anchors getting terribly excited about it. >> are you suggesting that we tend to hype these things, chris? >> no, not at all. >> is there any real significance? >> the reality was when you hit those highs, there was prices already building within the system, there were concerns starting to arise about what was going on in the criticism. the market was getting weary about why we're seeing these highs when there are accidents ahead. i think the different now is the market is saying we put sequester to one side, we put corporate earnings. the market got a much more positive tone towards it.

if not today, it will be tomorrow and then it becomes less of an issue. >> just want to ask for a briefly reality check for the enthusiasm today that we're talking about. where do you not see value here? what stocks don't you like? >> well, i think in terms of the global markets in particular, where we've seen a real struggle for value to appear has been in utility. based stocks. we're seeing rotations into those only because they've been relative laggards. so we would say, if you see a squeeze up, when you see these things come up, if you own them, these aren't reasons to chase it, these are reasons to step back. on the flip side, insurance stocks, banking stocks, the insurance stocks we're getting out of those and they're now coming back to value. this is in a market environment where markets are going higher generally. take your time, invest in what you want to own. but when you get pulled back, buy the stuff you like. >> and you're saying get

cyclical, not the opposite. >> we remain of the view that there is a cyclical recovery going on. we're seeing it come through at a macro level. and actually, you just want to buy stocks that you trust they're going to be able to deliver is the bottom line. particularly in most of the financial sector in the last two to three quarters. and there's a difference in hsbc and standard chartered. hsbc dealing with one issue that standard chartered didn't have to deal with. they're paying you dif dens. banks paying dividends again. that's good news for the last four years when we weren't getting in, banks giving you the dividend holdings, those people coming out of fixed income, saying security and dividend yield coming in equity market, that's a transitional shift that isn't going to be just a quarterly phenomenon. >> good. thanks for that. still to come on the program -- >> the u.s. housing market appears to be on its way to recovery. new home sales prices round ud out with the biggest annual gain

in more than six years later year. we'll check in on both commercial and residential property skters next. but, of course, we want to leave you with a look at how futures are trading ahead of the open. that 41-point gains puts the dow at 12 points away.

welcome back to "worldwide exchange." i'm kelly evans. >> and i'm ross westgate. here are your headlines from

around the world. >> beijing steps up social spending in a bid to boost living standards. better than expected growth for britain's services sector in january. shows the fastest expansion in five months, pushed the pound to a session high against the dollar. a 10% drop in car registrations in january over-shadowing the start of the again ne geneva motor show as it showcases that $4.5 million renault. you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. >> all right, people, brace yourself because you'll hear a lot about this guy today. dow jones still average is at level 1.42 at the moment. why is that significant? we're about 4 points away taking today's move of futures into account from breaching or reaching or passing through the nominal record highs set back in

october 2007. so it's taken what is that, 5 1/2 years for us to climb back up here, but we are close and given the move we've seen in markets overnight, it's possible we could reach this level if not hold there today. take a look at what has been happening overnight, broadly higher on the cnbc ftse 100. markets are surging after yesterday's sell-off. the ftse in britain adding almost 0.8% shy of that 6,400 level. the xetra dax is not usually a major mover, adding 1.6% approximated other markets, same thing. cac 40 in paris adding 1.4%. the ftse in italy is up almost 2%. how should you play these markets? here is what our guests have been telling us all morning. >> gilt as an asset should continue to benefit from external investment from over a overseas investment into the market.

that would typically be in short trend of the yield curve. we think those lows will keep coming. so the nooetd need for the bank of england is not obvious. >> after what was a relatively sleep july luxury goods stock and then it goes a little too expensive and it's come back where it was. but it's still a great company selling an enormous amount of product. but it's just not growing as fast. whereas google and amazon are, these could double their earnings which is why they have these much, much higher multiples. people are probably a big too bearish on china. having said that, the risk now is having worried china was too cold back in september, now people are worried about overeating and worried about interest rate hikes and property measures on friday night. so i think the miners do look

attractive, the valuations look attractive. i think they haven't kept up with quantity prices. they keep an eye on for quantity tight.ing in china. fannie mae and freddie mac's regulators will create a new venture. it's a move towards shrinking the role in the market. the faa says congress will ultimately decide how the venture will work and whether it will be privatized. fannie and is freddie currently help finance about two-thirds of all mortgages. since their bailout, they've drawn nearly 198 billion in u.s. treasury to help stay afloat. joining us now, allen smith ceo of prudential real estate investors. welcome. >> thank you. >> glad to have you here in london. >> glat glad to be here. >> we were talking yesterday about the london property market which is its own especially in central london the staggering amount of money that's coming into it. but in the u.s. we're seeing signs of a rebound, certainly

perhaps with fannie/freddie news pointing again towards the strength of the private market. >> i think what it illustrates is the same themes you see driving the london market or driving the u.s. market in terms of investor behavior. investors around the world in real estate have been seeking a quest for yield and security. and so the best properties in the best markets are seeing tremendous demand. and i think the other thing to keep in mind is relative to their fixed income alternatives, property offers very compelling returns right now. >> how is the u.s. commercial property -- there's always a relative gain, positions relative to other opportunities around the globe. >> well, i think the thing that the u.s. offers is a perception, a, it continues to be perceived as a safe haven. two is relative to other developed markets, the economy is growing at a steady pace. not a robust pace, but a steady pace. and so i think people look at that relative to europe it looks

relatively attractive. so i think in that sense it continues to attract capital. the other thing is, while the economy isn't growing in a terribly strong fashion, there's no new construction right now. and so it's supply and demand fundamentals for real estate continue to improve progressively. >> what are the opportunities at the moment? what sectors of commercial property market? is it more sectors than -- >> it's some of both. in terms of if you look at geography, the strongest markets have been what we would consider to be the gateway markets, new york, san francisco, boston, etcetera. the sectors that have been most compelling would probably be up until this point the apartment sector, where because of the fallen home ownership, because of demographics, up until this point. and i think one of the things we are looking for is when there will be a turn in that. because, in truth, house sg more affordable today in the u.s. than it's been in almost any time in the post war period.

>> but you're saying at this point that the argument for investing in apartments because of those demographic factors and otherwise is ending and it's time to maybe shift back. what do you think is the best way to play the real estate sector generally right now? >> i would say with respect to the apartment sector, which has been a favored sector of institutional investors, our view has gone from bullish to balanced. it's still an interesting sector, but it's not nearly the opportunity it was several years ago. i think most people are trying to figure out, similar to the great rotation you were talking about earlier, how do they begin to take more risks? how do they position themselves in, say been the office sector, the industrial warehouse sector. >> how big is the appetite? >> i think it's one of those things that people are trying to figure out how to take more risks, but they lack conviction as to where to do it. so the markets like new york, tech central markets, seattle, washington, those markets tend to attract a lot of attention. >> how much real can you get for

what risk, right? >> exactly. >> thank you for now, allen, ceo of potential real estate investors the. still around, how big of a golden parachute are we talking about? gold bars. stay tuned. [ kitt ] you know what's impressive? a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train.

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you are watching "worldwide exchange." on our website, chinese demand for u.s. natural resources may be waning, but there's one product they can't get enough of -- wine. why one aussie group thinks the tlend will continue. and swiss voters may have overwhelmingly backed pay restrictions, but there's considerable doubt over when the plan will be implemented into law and whether it will be watered down. plus, the prospect of snap elections in venezuela, if president hugeo chavez steps down after its cancer surgery, it could mean more volatility for markets. there's more on that story on the website. >> there was a standardout day in europe. doej pretty well. up 2.7% on the london market.

notching up its tenth cop secretaryive year of record annual profits. had a profit increase in 2012 just below expectations. they had to get over those big fines for breaking sanctions on iran, counseling strong growth in asia, but people taking it out have looked through it and they talked about a big pick up, as well, in consumer growth, the growth story. investors are looking and comparing what we refer to as standard chartered with hsbc. the other big asian play in london listed banks saying, maybe standard chartered is the one to get on there. their return investment looks better than hsbc. loan growth looks pretty good, as well. and the bank is confident in its statement this morning saying, we're starting the year with strong momentum in both businesses, pretty confident about the year ahead, as well, all of which leads investors happy to take the stock up nearly 52-week highs, up 34 percent in the last month. if you're just joining us, these are your headlines, pay jing is stepping up social

spending as it looks to build up china's economy. and oougs services pmi jumps in february, beating expectation toes show the fastest expansion in five months. and here is a look at today's other top stories. a senate panel may fault some in jpmorgan for allowing the company to build betts without fully warning regulators and investors. the senate committee on investigations could ask the former ceo and other execs so testify next month. company shares there up about 0.6% in frankfurt. that is significantly underperforming the market on a day like today. >> maurtha stewart is expected o

take the stand today in a dispute between j this penny's and macy's. macy' claims jcpenney are honing in on a big risk. bj penny dropped 3% on the reward. both shares are -- one of the investors comes from there. michael corbatt will speak at noon eastern time. analysts expect corbat to focus on near term financial goals and is cutting costs and not necessarily a new long-term strategy. he may address concerns about how he plans to wind down citi

holdlings. take a look at shares up 1.57%. that is roughly in line with the market today. >> meanwhile, william johnson could be in line with a big golden parachute if he's asking to. johnson could heavy $26 million. heinz says that reflects his success in building shareholder value of his 15% ceo. and swiss bank adagelin has been ordered to pay $6.2 million on a tax evasion case. the u.s. government accused the company of conspireing to help taxpayers hide $1.2 billion in secret swiss banking accounts. wegelin pleaded guilty in

january. the company has been on the rocks. can see kelly, this drys a line earn a very, very big chatter. it signal off u.s. offshore clients, even after it knew ubs was being investigated. but wegelin simply thought it could continue in that vein and make monies from those u.s. offshore clients even though it was illegal. what happens to wegelin now? we knew wegelin had already sold off most of its assets to a regional bank last year. we know wegelin is planning to shutd down its bank and brands prior to that plea deal.

>> yeah. because it's very, very unusual for the department of justice to invite a foreign bang. >> it's named after one of the strongest, most aggressive fighting bulls ever. are lamborghini waving their white flag at the moment? uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently

riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. lamborghini is marking its 50th anniversary with its fastest ever super car. it looks a little bit like the bat mobile. if you're joining us from geneva

is our rojin sedgwick. >> i don't get into the tights any more, ross. age has caught up with me. let's get excavate to stephane finkerman. i'll show the shot and we'll show the car, as well. stefan, thank you very much. this is pronounced bernania. this is a spanish bull for the 1940s. this is an extraordinary car. talk us through that and we can talk about other issues later. >> it's a one off. it's a very limited edition. this is giving us a higher degree in design freedom. you can test new materials and technology. you have a positive cascade effect on the rest of the product lineup and it's fulfilling dreams, at least for sh people. >> now, our u.s. audience will be very pleased to know that two of the cars out of the three

which you produced are going to the u.s. one to the middle east, as well. you're not going to name any names of who bought this, are you? >> no, i'm not going to do it. two in the u.s. and one into the middle east. >> tell us about the positive effect it has on the rest of the business, as well. it's the 50th anniversary edition, three cars produced. what about the state of the business elsewhere? how are things? >> things are pretty good. we had an up of 30% in the year 2012. we had a good distribution over the region, so we had more than 70% sold outside europe. and so we have a balance between the americas, euro and asia pacific. the big success is mainly due to our coup. it's a record year in terms of v-12 sales. for lamborghini, we've never done so many b-12s in the entire life of lamborghini, so it was a very good year. >> mclaren, very important for

them to keep the numbers down in terms of production. keeping it around about 200 because it's about the quantity, about the uniqueness of the cars. car industry last year was and 65 million sold. we sold 2,083. this is nothing compared to the 65. we want always to produce less than demand. but if you produce 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, in terms of the visibility around the world, this is not making any difference. >> stefan, about the broader industry in europe, we come into that geneva battery shows, we're dog to talk about potential will i broad experience. >> is there anything that the luxury end of the market can teach the broad mass consumer

mekt, as well? whereas across the board we have real proximate with the peugeot et of this world. one of the things issues is that they have to go global. without global, it's difficult to be successful. and the other thing is to take care of budget cuts. this is what these two things going global, having as much energy as possible, and taking care of the customers, this is valid for all around the world and for all the brands. >> stef yap, thank you very much indeed for your time. and his pet here, the person neen ya. a lot of executives in europe have facing the color guards. it is it is right at the moment. we can start reclaiming the ground against politicians.

maybe we'll play that out later on in the show. >> steve, just the three of them, then. so if you and who are the other two? >> jeffrey and karen. we've already penciled you in for one of those p-1s. >> okay. i like that. good stuff. steve, thanks for that. plenty more on the website from the geneva motor show, as well, cnbc.com. we had been asking people what the viewers they would like, cars, and -- the answer is that one. the 60 in under three seconds. although elbridge from florida said she would like to see the new bmw series. we'll work on it. >> "squawk box" is coming up next. there's only one way to find out. >> stay tuned. hey, this is challenger. i'll be waiting for you in stall 5. it confirms your reservation and the location your car is in,

the moment you land. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the spef hertz.