Germany In July 2010, Preliminary: Down 30 Percent

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Official numbers for July sales are not out yet (the Kraftfahrtbundesamt will report later today aor tomorrow), but Automobilwoche [sub] heard from the usually reliable Verband der Importeure VDIK (German Association of Car Importers) that new registrations dropped in July by 30 percent compared to July 2009. Germans bought 237.500 cars in July. This is bad, but not as bad as it sounds.

As mentioned in previous posts about monthly car sales in Deutschland, this slump is expected and will continue for a while. We are comparing with the peaks of Abwrackprämien excesses in 2009 (the peak was in June 2009): Don’t get excited. However, 237K units is solidly below the 2008 number: Not good. As we said last time: It won’t be until next year before Germany will report real growth in domestic car sales.

Production is a completely different story: Powered by the low Euro and high demand, mostly in China and Southeast Asia, the German export machine is hitting on all cylinders. Due to exports, the German car industry is producing more cars than in the heydays of the Abwrackprämie. Also, the exports are mainly the bigger bore and costlier models.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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