Domestic passenger car production in Germany reached 400,800 units in March, an increase of 3% year-on-year, Kallanish learns from automotive association VDA.
This figure is positively influenced by an additional working day during the month compared with last year, VDA cautions. In the first quarter, just under 1.1 million passenger cars were assembled on German lines, 2% less than in the corresponding period last year.
Production therefore remains significantly below pre-Covid levels. In the quarter, it was 16% below the first quarter of 2019.
Exports rose by 3% y-o-y in March, reaching 310,700 units. From January to March, 799,500 passenger cars were sold abroad, 2% less than the first quarter of 2019.
A clearer upward trend is reported for the registration of new cars. In March, the number of passenger car registrations rose by 16% y-o-y to 294,200 units. In the first quarter, 699,400 units were newly registered, 5% more than in the corresponding period of the previous year.
In the past month, new registrations of electric vehicles rose by 46% to a volume of 100,700 units. The share of electric vehicles in total registrations thus reached 34%, meaning that roughly one in three new registrations in the past month was an electric car.
According to VDA, the impact of tensions in the Middle East is not yet reflected in the current figures. Later this year, higher energy and fuel costs may provide further support for demand for electric vehicles, it notes.
