Car Sales In Germany: Es Geht Abwrts

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

More bad news from Europe: The new car market in Germany, last year an island of stability in a sea of red, was down 8.6 percent in January. On the back of worse news from other European volume markets, this does not bode well for when ACEA will publish its European data next week.

According to data published by Germany’s Kraftfahrtbundesamt, Volkswagen wads own 13.3 percent in January, Opel 5.9 percent, Ford however crashed by 32.2 percent. Premium brands such as Audi (-0.3 percent), BMW (+10.6 percent) , Mercedes (+3.1 percent) and Porsche (+13.2 percent) bucked the trend.

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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  • Gmichaelj Gmichaelj on Feb 04, 2013

    Ford looks like the biggest loser here. Old products? I read recently that they were delaying new products because of the downturn.

  • Pietalian Pietalian on Feb 04, 2013

    Mazda is up by 17%. Is this due to new products? Or do they not sell enough volume for this change to be very significant?

    • Mike978 Mike978 on Feb 04, 2013

      They don`t sell as many as the big boys - VW, Opel, etc but they do sell more than twice Honda and a comparable level to FIAT and Dacia. But in the US they lost sales, in a rising market.

  • Bd2 Even Lexus is feeling the burn of not being able to compete in the e-ATP arena.
  • TheEndlessEnigma The pics look great, with this being a manual this is a very enticing listing. The mention of snow tires does have me wondering what the condition of frame/underbody is - as with any car coming from the snowbelt.
  • TheEndlessEnigma Let's fix that headline, shall we? "It Turns Out That Car Buyers Aren’t as Hot on EVs as Ford Had Hoped". It's not just Euroweenie car buyers that aren't all lathered up to buy an EV, it's the car buying public in general.
  • Dave M. Get rid of anything 4 cylinder. I know a lot can be done with them, but I have occasion daily with luxury cars and whether it's Mercedes, BMW or any other luxury or semi-luxury brand, 4 cylinders (turbo, supercharged) still sound like an economy car.
  • Kosmo Resume the CTS V Wagon with 6MT!!!
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