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New cars on a freight train near Hanover: »Weak demand is becoming increasingly apparent«
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
For months, German automakers suffered from delivery problems, especially for semiconductors.
Now the situation for the industry is gradually improving - which is noticeable in terms of sales.
The industry recorded 224,816 new registrations in September, as reported by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).
That was around 14 percent more than in the same month last year.
The month-long decline in the number of deliveries has thus been stopped for the time being.
“We may see a trend reversal here,” said industry expert Peter Fuss from the consulting firm EY.
"The pre-crisis level is no longer as far away as it was in the first half of the year, and the lack of chips seems to be slowly losing relevance." Fuss assumes that the situation will continue to recover over the course of the year.
Industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer also spoke of a trend reversal, but warns of new problems.
Car production from May to August was 21 percent higher than in the previous year - but buyers are now holding back because of inflation and the threat of recession, and delivery times are becoming shorter, he explained.
»A tipping point from a shortage of supply to a lack of customers or weak demand is becoming increasingly apparent.«
Association expects a six percent decline in 2022
The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) also described this effect a few weeks ago and once again corrected its sales forecast for the current year downwards.
The association is now assuming only 2.5 million new registrations in Germany by 2022.
That would be a decrease of six percent compared to the previous year.
From the point of view of EY expert Fuss, the economic environment has deteriorated "to such an extent that a further thorough recovery of the new car market in the coming year seems rather unlikely".
Meanwhile, after a few weaker months, demand for electric vehicles remains high.
According to the KBA, around 44,400 new battery cars hit the streets in September, almost 32 percent more than in the same month last year.
Almost every fifth new car now has a pure electric motor.
According to Stefan Bratzel, founder of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) in Bergisch Gladbach, almost 272,500 electric vehicles were newly registered between January and September, 15 percent more than in the same period last year.
However, the market ramp-up is still heavily influenced by funding rules and regulations.
"Due to rising raw material and production costs, it is unlikely that procurement costs for electric vehicles will fall in the medium term," said Bratzel.
apr/dpa