BERLIN: New car registrations in Germany increased strongly in August, industry association VDA said Friday, helped by two additional working days.
August registrations rose 8% to 245,100 new cars. The rise in registrations, a mirror of sales, follows a decline of 3.9% in July. In the first eight months, new car registrations increased 6% to 2.26 million, the association said.
“The German car market continues to be dynamic,” said VDA President Matthias Wissmann. “Positive economic development and a healthy level of employment contribute to that.”
The European car market has been on a growth path this year, recovering from a long slump caused by the financial crisis. Analysts have said they expect growth to slow in the second half, and are still assessing the potential impact of the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union.
“Despite the strong August figures, we still expect exports and production to show stable development,” Mr. Wissmann said. “Uncertainty in the wake of the Brexit vote has increased nevertheless.”
Data for Europe as a whole are due Sept. 15, when the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, known as ACEA, releases both July and August figures after a summer break. Analysts at Evercore ISI expect overall August data to be strong considering registration figures from France, Spain and Italy a day ago. French new car registrations rose 6.7% in August, and Italian registrations surged 20%. In Spain, car registrations rose 15%. The U.K., Europe’s second-largest car market after Germany, hasn’t released August data yet.