VDA: Domestic passenger car market shows strong growth in February

Incoming orders up by 20 percent – Exports and production also rise

In February 2016 new registrations of passenger cars in Germany rose by 12 percent to 250,300 new vehicles. However, February had one more working day this year than it did in 2015. So far this year the accumulated rise comes to 8 percent. Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), stressed: “The German passenger car market appears very lively. Sales for the first two months are at their highest level for 14 years. And incoming orders from Germany show an even stronger increase. That provides a good perspective for the year as a whole.”

Domestic incoming orders showed a marked year-on-year rise in February. Customers in Germany ordered 20 percent more new passenger cars. The first two months of the current year brought an increase of 6 percent.”

Exports also increased last month. The German manufacturers exported 5 percent more passenger cars (403,400 units) in February, while orders from abroad hovered around last year’s level.

In parallel to exports, production also rose in February. A total of 532,800 passenger cars rolled off the production lines. That was 6 percent more than in the same month last year, and the highest production level ever recorded for February. In the first two months of this year 3 percent more passenger cars were built than in the same period in 2015.

Wissmann underscored, “However welcome the situation is on the domestic market, we must not underestimate the challenge on the international markets. Three out of four cars that we produce in Germany are destined for export. The business expectations have cooled off somewhat just recently. We are adjusting to that.”