Germany to return back to pre-pandemic level car sales: VDA

Car sales: The German Association of the Automotive Industry expects the global passenger car market to grow moderately by 2 per cent in 2024, taking it close but not fully back to its size prior to the pandemic.

The country's passenger car market is expected to shrink by 1 per cent, and remain 25 per cent smaller than pre-pandemic levels this year, the VDA association said.

VDA Chief Economist, Manuel Kallweit, said supply chains were once again intact, but the business environment for German carmakers remained challenging.

Electric vehicle sales of Germany have registered a fall by 16 per cent in 2023, according to VDA data. The association has also dropped its present forecast by 9 per cent in 2024.

The fall in sales last year can be credited to the removal of government subsidies. In August last year, the number of cars that hit German streets recorded a 0.1 per cent dip, according to KBA, Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority.

In this year, the production of electric cars in Germany was forecasted to increase by 19 per cent, the association said, with much of German output destined for export.