Big Boost To German New Car Sales In August

FRANKFURT, v: German new car registrations, a key indicator of consumer demand, saw a steep rise in August, industry data showed on Friday. With 245,100 new cars on the road in August 2016, the figure was 8.0 percent higher than the same month in 2015, the German Association of the Automobile Industry (VDA) said.

The result was boosted by two additional working days in August compared with 2015, the VDA noted. "Positive overall economic development in Germany and the good employment situation are also contributing at the moment," VDA president Matthias Wissmann said in a statement.

August's result marks a return to growth for car sales after a blip in July, when fewer cars were sold than over the same month in 2015 -- which the VDA also put down to Calendar effects.

German carmakers saw a seven-percent increase in registrations to 169,800 in August, the VDA reported, while foreign manufacturers' share rose by 11 percent to 75,300.

August's figures bring the total number of new cars registered in Germany since January to just under 2.3 million -- 6.0 percent higher than the same period in 2015. Over the first eight months of the year, German carmakers produced almost 3.9 million vehicles -- 2.0 percent more than over the same period in 2015 -- and exported almost 3.0 million, a rise of 1.0 percent, the VDA said.