New car sales in Germany in June fell by 5% year-on-year to 282,900 units, leaving the German car market for the first half 8% off last year’s pace, according to data issued by the German auto industry trade association VDA.
The 5% market decline in June will be seen by some as a sign that the German car market trend is, at least, not deteriorating. The base for comparison last year was relatively high.
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New car sales in Germany for the first half stand at 1.5m units and the VDA noted that the German car market cannot escape Europe’s ‘difficult environment’ despite the relatively strong performance of the German economy. It said uncertainty regarding the euro crisis is impacting consumer confidence in Germany and making consumers reluctant to buy new cars.
The VDA has now forecast that the German car market this year will drop below 3m units. Earlier this year it was forecasting a domestic car market of 3m units.
It said in a statement that German new car sales are expected to drop to between 2.9 and 3m units this year (2012, 3.1m).
However, it also said that it expects the German car market to stabilise in the coming years around the 3m mark.
The VDA added that pent-up demand is building in Germany and that is expected to underpin demand in the medium-term. The trade body also noted that the average age of the car fleet in Germany is currently 8.7 years and represents a new record. In 2007, the average age of the car fleet stood at 7.7 years.
