The German car market posted 6.1% year-on-year growth in December, a result that appears to point to some momentum in the market.
December’s growth leaves the German car market for the year up 8.8% on 2010 at 3.17m units. The result contrasts with that for the other big European markets and illustrates how out-of-step with much of the rest of Europe Germany’s export-led boom has been over the past year.
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Figures released earlier this week by the German Federal Labour Agency showed that German unemployment fell to its lowest rate since 1991 in December (it was 6.8% versus 6.9% in November).
However, Germany’s economy is expected to slow in 2012 and this, analysts believe, will likely cause the car market to fall slightly.
LMC Automotive analyst Jonathan Poskitt told just-auto that the German car market will be losing momentum after the strong 2011. “On current estimates it won’t fall far next year, but we’re currently assuming a 2% drop,” he said.
Analysts also caution that December’s gain may have been bolstered by heavy end-year incentives.
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