Car sales up in Germany despite European economic crisis

Germany’s auto industry saw an increase in car sales despite a widespread debt crisis that has crippled most European economies.

Germany is one of the exceptions, however, as a total of 296,800 new cars were registered last month – 3% more than in the same month a year ago. And over the first six months of 2012, sales rose by 1% to 1.63 million vehicles, the VDA industry federation said.

“The German auto industry is in better form than the rest of western Europe,” VDA chief Matthias Wissmann told a news conference.

By comparison, new car sales were down 0.9% in France in June, down 12% in Spain and down by as much as 24% in Italy.

Nevertheless, German car exports were feeling the pinch and fell by 1.0 percent over the January-June period, VDA calculated.

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/car-sales-germany-european-economic-crisis-article-1.1108472