Automotive industry: German car exports are falling

rtr | German car exports fell noticeably in the first seven months of the year. Around 2.0 million new cars were exported, 4.0 percent less in volume compared to the same period last year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday. In terms of value, exports fell by 8.9 percent to 73.5 billion euros from January to July. At the same time, imports of new cars into Germany increased in volume by 16.0 percent to around 1.3 million vehicles.

The most important buyer countries for German cars were the United Kingdom, the USA and Italy, which together accounted for 32.7 percent and therefore almost a third of exports. The decline in exports affected all types of drive. Exports of cars with combustion engines fell by 2.9 percent to one million units. Exports of purely electric cars also fell by 2.9 percent to 560,000 units, while hybrid vehicles fell by 8.2 percent to 380,000 cars.

When it comes to imports, China became the most important supplier country. With 175,000 cars, 13.8 percent of new cars imported came from the People's Republic, which corresponds to an increase of 120.9 percent compared to the same period last year. China pushed the Czech Republic (173,000 cars) and Spain (157,000 cars) into second and third place. The import boom was driven primarily by hybrid vehicles (+36.0 percent) and pure electric cars (+66.3 percent), while imports of combustion engines fell by 9.0 percent.

There was a particular development in business with the USA, the second most important export market. Exports there fell by 2.6 percent in terms of volume and by 17.1 percent in terms of value. However, ‌exports of passenger cars with internal combustion engines to the ‌USA increased by 31.7 percent. At the same time, exports of hybrid vehicles (-50.3 percent) and electric cars (-56.1 percent) to the United States collapsed.