VDA forecast: German auto industry on record course in 2011

I ntotal Wissmann sees a 'stable upward trend' for the industry. The VDA expects 3.1 million new registrations in Germany in 2011, which would be about as many as in 2008 and around 700,000 fewer than in 2009, the year of the scrapping premium. This year the number is likely to be just over 2.9 million newly registered cars, said Wissmann. By the end of November there were 2.7 million. 'Domestic incoming orders have been rising steadily and with increasing speed since September', reported the VDA President.

Export is heading for a record

The domestic order backlog is currently at 532,000 orders and thus around 100,000 units above the average level of previous years. Wissmann confirmed that there are already delivery times of several months for some upper-class models.

For exports, the VDA is forecasting an increase of almost 5 percent to 4.4 million vehicles for 2011. That would exceed the previous high of 4.3 million cars from 2007. Domestic car production is also expected to grow by around 5 percent to almost 5.8 million units.

Production abroad is increasing

Production abroad is playing an increasingly important role. The German manufacturers increased it in 2010 by 17 percent to 5.7 million cars. On the world market, almost every fifth new car is now sold in China. And every fifth car of these belong to a German group brand. This shows the strong position of German car companies in the Far East.

According to the VDA, 714,000 people were employed in the permanent workforce of car manufacturers and suppliers in Germany in September. There were also 30,000 temporary workers, twice as many as at the low point of the economic crisis in 2009. Wissmann spoke of a 'slow increase in employment'. Much more noteworthy is that the automotive industry only cut 2.8 percent of the permanent workforce during the crisis - with company sales falling by 20 to 30 percent.