In the spring, the German car industry was hoping for an end to the economic downturn – but this was probably only a short-lived interim high.
The mood in the ailing German car industry is deteriorating again. In July, the Ifo Institute’s indicator for the business climate in the car industry fell to minus 18.3 points, after minus 9.5 points in June. The Munich-based economic research institute announced this on Monday. “The car industry is sliding further into crisis,” said car expert Anita Wölfl.
According to the report, car companies are assessing both their current situation and their expectations for the next three months as worse than in June. “We are unlikely to see any significant improvement in the next few months,” said Wölfl. According to the Ifo, plant capacity utilization has fallen to 77.7 percent, nine percentage points below the long-term average. Export expectations have also fallen sharply. In the spring, the Ifo indicator rose temporarily, which raised hopes that the economic downturn would end.
Source: Stern
