Germany In October 2011: Chugging Along
New car sales in Europe’s largest market Germany are settling into levels slightly above last year, as registration data by Germany’s Kraftfahrtbundesamt show. With 258.253 cars sold in October, sales in the month were 0.6 percent above the same month in the prior year. 10 months into the year, Germans registered 2.66 million new cars, up 9.8 percent compared to the same period in 2010.
Defying gasoline prices twice than those of the U.S., the trend to larger cars continues unabated. The upper class is up 29.7 percent, vans are up 11.3 percent. Compact cars are up only 4.7
Interesting: the often overlooked commercial vehicles are up solidly, both for October (+9 percent) and the first 10 months of the year (+21 percent). Sales of commercial vehicles are often seen as a leading indicator: If you have more goods to move around, you need trucks.
Full data, including brand sales, are available here.
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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