Wednesday, February 10, 2010

German Auto Sales Crash



Domestic car sales hit an all-time high in Germany in 2009 thanks to the government's cash-for-clunkers program. Now that the program is over, however, sales have plummeted. Is the worst still to come?
After a year of successfully dodging a severe slump in car sales, 2010 has not started well for German carmakers. January saw the worst figures for domestic German auto sales in 20 years. But industry experts disagree over whether the figures represent a simple market correction after last year's government-sponsored cash for clunkers program or a sign of grimmer things to come.
Only 181,500 new vehicles were registered in January, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Association of International Motor Vehicles Manufacturers (VDIK). The figure represents a 4.2 percent drop relative January 2009, when year-on-year figures were already down roughly 14 percent. That slump led the German government to introduce its scrapping bonus program, which resulted in a significant spike in domestic car sales.
In January, only Volkswagen was able to report an increase in sales, of 11 percent. Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Ford all saw slumps ranging between 10 percent and 20 percent. Porsche got hit the hardest, with a 32 percent dip.
'Worst Is Yet to Come'

5 comments:

  1. Is that an actual parking garage? Radical!

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  2. Time to replace my Porsche with an new one.

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  3. Zeh German made FORD is much better zan zeh American Made Ford!

    YAH!

    Ayaheyaheyaheyaheyaheyah

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  4. The article is dead on.

    My local BMW dealer manager told me the same thing. Once again, after the Clunkers scam was over, they can't give a car away.

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  5. Die wirtschaft werdt zussamenbrechen , denken Sie , auto verkaufs sehr schlecht , . LOL , but no , everything here in east Canada is real bad , man for 10$ an hr jobs there are 100s of ppl applying , and only ones with College diplomas ar getting them . very very bleak indeed

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