In September 2010 exports of passenger cars from German OEMs have risen once again. In comparison to the same month last year they were up by more than 5 per cent, which means that since the beginning of this year over 3.1 million cars have been supplied to foreign customers.
Incoming orders from abroad have expanded by 6 per cent, so their growth is somewhat slower than at the beginning of the year. Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) stressed, "Since August 2009 the German manufacturers have again recorded growth on the foreign markets. The figure is already settling down at a high level.”
On the recovering US market, the German carmakers pushed up their September sales by 18 per cent. Year-to-date sales of light vehicles bearing a German badge in the USA already come to nearly 650,000. This corresponds to an increase of 15 per cent, while the market as a whole expanded by 10 per cent over the same period.
The domestic market has recorded 260,000 new registrations and is therefore, as expected, 18 per cent below the previous year’s figure. Wissmann said, "We already achieved a turnaround in orders from our domestic customers in September; orders from Germany have risen by over 10 per cent. By the end of the year we will also be seeing climbing registration figures on our home market again.”
Production at plants in Germany fell slightly in September. Last month nearly 535,000 passenger cars rolled off the assembly lines, yet production shows a clear year-to-date rise of 14 per cent (to 4.1 million). Wissmann underscored, "This means that the production figures from the first three quarters are now only 5 per cent below the record set in 2008. The German passenger car <link http: www.foundry-planet.com _top external-link-new-window>industry has returned to pre-crisis levels much faster than expected.”
