Germany In December 2012: Ach Du Mein Lieber
The German car market ended the year with a bang – to the chin. Germany had shrugged-off the European contagion for most of the year, but in December, sales sagged by an unfestive 16.4 percent.
Market leader Volkswagen is down 2 percent for the year, compensated by other group brands: Audi up 6.3 percent, Porsche up 9.8 percent, Skoda up 3.2 percent, SEAT up 15.4 percent.
Opel’s sales are down 16.1 percent for the year. Ford’s 10.7 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, Car sales in France, Spain and Italy in 2012 fell to the lowest levels in years, says Reuters.
- Italy’s car sales were down 22.5 percent in December. The year ended down19.9 percent to 1.4 million units, their lowest levels since 1979.
- French car registrations fell 15 percent in December. The full year ended down 14 percent to 1.90 million vehicles.
- Spain’s December sales contracted 23 percent. The full-year total of 699,589 cars is down 13 percent.
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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In other news, sales in Sweden dropped - down to about average for the last 10 years - by about 10% from last year. 2/3 new cars are now diesels.
Fascinating trend.