Passenger car production at German assembly lines reached 353,600 units in October, which is 4% lower than in the same month last year, according to automotive association VDA.
This continues a gentle year-on-year downward trend, Kallanish notes. In January-October, production was however up 1% y-o-y, totalling 3.5 million units.
However, compared to the pre-crisis year of 2019, year-to-date production of 2025 remains 12% lower.
Exports of cars fell just short of the previous year’s figure last month. The 277,500 brand-new passenger cars exported from German production facilities represented a decline of 1% on-year. In January-October, passenger car exports reached 2.7mn units, matching the previous year’s level. After ten months, exports were still 10% below the pre-crisis level of 2019.
VDA highlights the production figures for electric cars in October, with 83,390 electric cars produced in Germany, up by 52% on-year, marking a new production record. So far this year, the German electric car market is up 47%, reaching a volume of 683,400 new registrations.
VDA continues to estimate that around 1.7m EVs will be manufactured in Germany this year.
German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) recently said it continues production despite fresh semiconductor shortages and ongoing global supply problems (see Kallanish passim). However, given the evolving circumstances, short-term effects on VW production cannot be ruled out.
The carmaker is examining alternative sourcing options in order to minimise possible effects on its supply chain.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) previously warned that virtually all automakers in the region were feeling the effects of the conflict between Dutch chip producer Nexperia and China (see Kallanish passim). According to the association, Nexperia informed customers that it could not guarantee continued chip supplies.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
