–Updates With VDA Car Production Figures

FRANKFURT (MNI) – New car registrations in Germany fell
year-over-year in September and are down 1.8% year-to-date, the carmaker
association VDIK reported Tuesday.

The number of new passenger cars registered hit 250,000 in
September, up 10.4% on the month but down 11% compared to the same month
one year ago. Taking into account the two less working days in September
this year, VDIK said registrations fell 2% year-over-year.

In the first nine months of this year, 2.36 million cars were
registered, down 1.8% from the same period a year earlier.

Automobile association VDA later Tuesday confirmed the registration
figures and reported passenger car production fell 16% year-over-year –
down 12% when adjusted for work days – to 450,600. Exports fell 12% to
349,000, down 9% on an adjusted basis, on the back of weakness in
western Europe in particular, VDA said.

VDA said 4.1 million new cars were produced over the first three
quarters of the year, down 2% from the same period last year. Exports
were down 1% over the same period to 3.13 million.

The steady decline in car registrations over the course of this
year mirrors the drop in the rate of economic growth seen in Germany,
with many economists fearing the Eurozone’s largest economy could
contract in the third quarter.

Still, consumer spending has remained something of a bright spot
over the year, bolstered by consumer surveys showing that households
were prepared to spend money on big-ticket items despite their fears
about the economic outlook.

Spending on durable goods, excluding autos, has edged up 0.4% in
real terms from January to August, according to retail sales figures.
Private consumption also added 0.2 percentage point to overall GDP
growth of 0.3% in 2Q, helping offset declines in investment.

The GfK Group’s consumer climate indicator for September showed
consumers’ willingness to spend continuing to hold at high levels. The
EMU crisis has led many consumers to invest their money in “higher value
purchases, such as real estate rather than saving it in the bank,” GfK
said.

German consumers also say they are likely to continue spending on
major goods, according to the European Commission’s consumer survey. Its
measure of major purchases over the next 12 months has remained above
its long-run average throughout 2012.

The positive consumer mood has been driven in large part by a
robust employment market in Germany. But the fact that employment levels
apparently peaked over the summer could cause consumer spending to start
weakening in the winter.

— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: ccermak@mni-news.com

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