Germany's New Car Sales up in March
New car registrations in Germany, a key gauge of demand in one of the most important sectors of Europe's biggest economy, rose in March, official data showed on Tuesday.
A total 339,123 new cars were registered last month, 3.4 percent more than the same month last year, the German federal motor transport authority KBA calculated in its monthly statistics.
Separate data published by the VDA auto industry federation put the number at 339,200, an increase of 3.0 percent year-on-year.
Taking the first three months of the year as a whole, new registrations rose 1.3 percent to 773,636, according to the KBA data, while the VDA statistics showed a 1.4-percent increase to 773,700 vehicles.
"The German car market is in good shape," said VDA president Matthias Wissmann.
"However, high fuel prices are putting the brakes on new business. The added burdens at the petrol pumps are souring consumer sentiment," Wissmann said.
At the same time, German auto exports fell 5.0 percent to 417,400 in March, VDA calculated.
There was a 7.0-percent drop in the number of cars that rolled off the production line in Germany to 542,500 last month.
Source: Agence France Presse
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