New car sales in Germany fell for the sixth consecutive month in May as the country’s scrappage hangover continued.
Sales fell 34 per cent year on year last month and sales have been steadily declining since scrappage ended in the country back in September.
The figures for the first five months of this year are down 28 per cent year on year in Germany, Europe’s largest market for new car sales.
Mercedes was a particular opponent of the scrappage scheme when it was launched in Germany, claiming it brought forward sales of new cars that would have been sold at a more sustainable rate in the future.
Italian new car sales for May also declined 13.79 per cent.
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Re: German sales decline again
Something like that. Don't they have a really strict MOT at around 5-7 years old, which forces rubber seals to be replaced etc, so it's not financially viable. Hence the large number of middle age Jap imports we, Oz and NZ get? It amounts to the same thing, I guess.
Re: German sales decline again
Why are most other countries able to publish the sales figures within a few days of the month turning over, yet it takes the SMMT here over a week to publish our figures?
In the US, the figures (for a much larger market) are published with in a couple of days.
Why are we so slow?
Re: German sales decline again
Talking of which - Isn't it the law in Japan that no cars over 10 years old are allowed on the road? Sure I read that somewhere...