The German car market turned out even worse than feared in 2007, down 9% to 3.149m units. This was the lowest since reunification.
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December registrations were down 20% to 243,000 units, according to the German vehicle manufacturers’ trade association, Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA). The decline was expected because December 2006 was an exceptionally strong month as car buyers brought purchases forward ahead of the introduction of a new higher rate of value-added tax in January 2007.
Dpa-AFX noted that as recently as December the VDA was estimating the market at between 3.16 and 3.17m units.
Declining exports in December meant more bad news for the German automotive industry. Exports account for three out of every four vehicles produced there. Exports were down 2% in December to 284,900 units. For the full year exports were up 11% to 4.303m units.
The export decline was matched by a 2% decline in production in December, bringing the full year production figure to 5.716m units, and increase of 6% over 2006.
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By GlobalDataThere was some good news for the German industry. Order intakes were up 20% in December compared to a year ago and this suggests an improvement in the market in 2008 even taking into account the VAT effect. Export orders were up 7%.
