Mercedes-Benz Cars’ parent company, Daimler, announced that it would be abandoning the profit forecast it had initially set for 2013 because of the increasingly dismal market in Europe, which involves demand reaching something “around a 20-year low.”

In 2012, Daimler posted  €8.1 billion (around $10.5 billion) in operating profit. Given the current conditions, the German automaker is not confident about matching that figure for 2013. This is the case even with expectations of increased group revenue.

Since the start of April, Daimler had already given indications that it had to reassess its profit forecasts because of the lackluster demand and discouraging sales figures across the region. Net profit for the quarter was down 60 percent compared to the year before, and EBIT fell 56 percent as well. Consequently, revenue was down 3 percent.

In Q1 2013, total vehicle sales in the European Union amounted to below 3 million units, which is a 9.8-percent decline compared to the same period last year. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, those figures represent the worst start to a year, at least since the figures started to be collated in 1990.