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Bad Homburg - With about 318,000 new registrations in April 2008, the passenger car market grew 20 percent compared to April 2007. This means that the market has been gaining ground in the first four months of the year, with a 7.3 growth compared to the same period last year. Due to the effect of anticipated vehicle purchases in the fourth quarter of 2006, the numbers in the first months of 2007 had been marked by double-digit decreases.
The market recovery was expected, and even after adjusting the numbers for the three additional business days in April, there still has been a gain. Despite the growth, however, the private market is easing up only slightly. So far, private demand grew by approximately 70,000 units, making up for a large portion of the severe slump in demand by around 100,000 vehicles last year. The current upswing in demand spans passenger cars with diesel and gasoline engines, as well as vehicles with alternative engines.
VDIK President Volker Lange: “These numbers clearly show that additional growth can only be achieved through an increase in private vehicle registrations. The Federal Government must implement clear and convincing incentives as soon as possible to make the switch to more fuel efficient low emission vehicles more attractive. Looking at the models for the conversion of the motor vehicle tax to a CO2-based tax that we have become aware of, we are concerned that the exchange of old vehicles for new, more environmentally friendly vehicles will be hindered, rather than encouraged. If older vehicles are not taken into consideration in the tax, we do not expect the new motor vehicle tax to provide effective support for the VDIK ‘Initiative for Clean Air’ that started in 2006.”
Courtesy: VDIK, Germany
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