In May this year, new passenger car registrations in the German market fell by five percent year on year to 290,000 units, according to the data released by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). Meanwhile, in January-May this year Germany's new car registrations remained stable year on year, totaling 1,337,800 units. The VDA noted that Germany maintained the good level of new registrations achieved last year and that May 2012 had two working days fewer than the same month last year.
However, during May this year a total of 347,600 passenger cars were exported, down 13 percent compared to May 2011, affected by the debt crisis and the resulting much weaker demand in western Europe. In the first five months of the year, German passenger car exports amounted to 1,814,200 units, decreasing two percent compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, 450,000 cars were produced in Germany in May, falling 17 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. German car output in the first five months of 2012 amounted to 2,374,800 units, down two percent year on year.
Commenting on the figures, VDA president Matthias Wissmann stated, "The market environment is more demanding than it was one year ago. However, in May 2012 our foreign orders worldwide rose by another four percent. In the important US market alone, our manufacturers pushed up their sales of light vehicles by 18 percent in May. The global market for passenger cars continues its growth, but western Europe is increasingly a cause for concern. Europe should therefore rapidly find a common strategy for resolving the debt crisis."