New car registrations in Germany were up 1% over last year at 304,000 units according to the VDA.
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The small gain left accumulated first half sales 4% ahead of the same period last year at 1.63m units.
The result was seen as relatively encouraging after a disappointing May result and the VDA said it was keeping its full-year projection for sales in Europe’s biggest auto market of about 3.2m – slightly ahead of the 2007 market.
The association was maintaining what VDA chief Matthias Wissmanm described as a conservative sales forecast.
Analysts say that prospects for the German car market are relatively strong given the weakness of 2007 and the generation of pent-up demand ahead of tax uncertainties.
The German market underperformed in May, with sales down by 6% on the same month in 2007. However, JD Power noted that the German market remains 4% ahead of last year in year-to-date terms and said that the market will return to growth in the coming months.
