German Car Exports Jump 49% in May
German car exports increased by nearly half in May compared to a year earlier but sales continued to slide at home, an industry group said Wednesday.
Germany exported 367,700 cars last month, an increase of 46 percent compared with May 2009, said the VDA group, which represents automakers. That followed a 58 percent year-on-year rise in April.
Germany is home to car makers including Daimler AG, Porsche SE, Volkswagen AG and BMW AG.
Sales within Germany have been slipping in year-on-year terms for months after a popular government car-scrapping program expired.
That trend continued in May. Some 252,800 new cars — German-made and others — were registered in Germany, 34 percent fewer than a year earlier. Domestic sales were down nearly 32 percent in April.
Over the first five months of 2010, exports were up 49 percent to nearly 1.77 million cars, VDA said. Production rose 26 percent in the five months to 2.32 million, but new registrations at home sagged by 28 percent, dropping to 1.18 million.
BERLIN (AP)
In this Feb. 4, 2009 file picture Porsche cars stand in row in the port of Emden, northern Germany. An industry group says German car exports saw another strong year-on-year rise in May - increasing by nearly half as global demand recovers. The VDA group said Wednesday June 2, 2010 that Germany exported 367,700 cars last month - an increase of 46 percent compared with May 2009. That followed a 58 percent rise in April. (AP Photo/Joerg Sarbach,File)