Stuttgart - The crisis in the automobile industry is likely to get worse, the chief executive of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, warned Thursday.

"An early upturn on the automobile market is not in prospect," he told a conference organized by the IFA industry think tank in a Stuttgart suburb, Nuertingen.

"In all likelihood, it will probably first of all get worse before it gets better," he said in a speech.

"At the moment it is difficult to make forecasts even for the rest of the week or the month let alone the rest of the year," he said. "Our sector is at the crossroads." (dpa)