People in Germany are buying fewer cars. In August, the number of new registrations remained at a low level. The German car market fears the worst sales figures in three decades for this year.
Cars continue to sell comparatively poorly. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 199,200 cars were newly registered in August. Although that was three percent more than in August last year, which was also weak, the calendar also allowed for an additional day of sale. According to industry information, supply bottlenecks for important components are no longer slowing down production quite as much as they have recently. In view of the rising prices for energy and food, for example, people are now increasingly reluctant to make larger purchases.
According to the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, the German car market is heading for its worst sales figures in 30 years this year. The German manufacturers recently lowered their forecast again. The German Association of the Automotive Industry is now assuming that there will only be 2.5 million new registrations in Germany in 2022. That would be a decrease of six percent compared to the previous year.
At around 35 percent, the majority of new cars in August had a petrol engine, and 18 percent were diesel. Purely battery-powered electric cars had a market share of 16 percent, a good 12 percent were plug-in hybrids, which combine a combustion engine with an electric motor whose battery can be charged via a plug.
Around 1.6 million new vehicles have been registered so far this year, almost ten percent fewer than in the same period last year. The sales deficit compared to the pre-Corona year 2019 is 34 percent. In August there were 37 percent fewer orders from Germany than in the same month last year, while incoming orders from abroad rose by 2 percent.
