It’s not a trend reversal, but more cars were registered in January than in the same month last year. However, there is no good news for alternative drives such as electric cars.
In Germany, for the first time since June, more new cars were registered in January than in the same month last year.
The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) recorded 184,112 new registrations last month, around 8.5 percent more than in January 2021, as the office announced on Thursday. Delivery bottlenecks, especially for electrical components, had hit the industry hard last year.
However, despite the slight recovery, the situation remains tense from the point of view of experts. New registrations in January were 25 percent below the pre-crisis level of early 2020, the business consultancy EY announced on Thursday. It is also the third lowest January value since reunification. “So that’s not a trend reversal,” it said.
Little time to breathe
The President of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Reinhard Zirpel, made a similar statement: “The automotive industry has little reason to take a deep breath at the beginning of the year,” he said. However: “There is great potential for recovery as the year progresses, as the order backlog is very high. However, the market development depends crucially on the extent to which it is possible to improve the ability to deliver,” says Zirpel.
EY, in turn, sees “no good news” in the number of registrations for alternative drives. According to the KBA, the number of newly registered fully electric cars in January rose by more than 28 percent compared to the same month last year. However, if one compares the share of battery electric vehicles in all new registrations, it fell by around two percentage points to 11.3 percent between December and January. It’s the second drop after the share rose to a record more than 17 percent in November.
A rip through the industry
The mixed monthly figures are also reflected in the mood in the industry. The German auto industry is assessing its situation more positively again, as a survey by the Ifo Institute published on Thursday shows. However, a rift runs through the industry between manufacturers and suppliers. After a lengthy downward movement, the indicator for the entire industry rose again in January to 4.6 points – after 0.8 in December.
«While the manufacturers are doing well, the suppliers’ business has been worse. One possible reason for this is that manufacturers have been able to push through their price increases with buyers, but suppliers have not so far,” said Ifo expert Oliver Falck. “The market for new cars is empty, so dealers can sell their cars to end customers without discounts.”
Business expectations developed consistently positively, increasing both among manufacturers and suppliers.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
