'Friendly' show will highlight big issues: Part 1 of 3.(News)

Ciferri, Luca; Frink, Lyle; Meiners, Jens; Oliveira, Paulo Soares de; Saint-Seine, Sylviane de; Weernink, Wim Oude; Wernle, Bradford

Byline: Luca Ciferri, Sylviane de Saint-Seine, Bradford Wernle, Jens Meiners, Wim Oude Weernink, Paulo Soares de Oliveira, Lyle Frink

Issues that will dominate the auto industry over the coming months will be highlighted at Geneva - Europe's first big auto show of 2004. Europe's car czars are under great pressure. Volkswagen boss Bernd Pischetsrieder has yet to prove that the new Golf will be a success. VW's 2003 net profit dropped by 57.6 percent to [euro]1.1 billion. Fiat Auto's new chief, Herbert Demel, will outline how he plans to turn around the troubled Italian carmaker. How ...