they remainspiay wk in the u.s. there is uncertainty over how the european sovereign debt crisis will impact core markets in europe and north america. thurnt environment is not easy for the company. >> part-timers for german industrial giant -- hard times for a german industrial giant. the steelmaker had to write down some 2.9 billion euros oit u.s. and stainless steel businesses. the company is also suffering from spiraling cost overruns for the construction oa new plant in brazil which is still not running at capacity. >> w have to say that we're not going to be able to compensate for these increased costs in the short term. the improvementannot be expected until the second half year. we expect a negative result for steel in the current financial year. >> 1 rating agency refused to release a forecast, but they did say they are expecting declines in european steel business. >> germany's auto industry has had a bumper year and 2011. the bda says total sales are up 13%. forecast for the coming year are not as positiv