Würzburg/Germany, June 5, 2007
Suddenly, a divide is emerging within Germany's motor trade. While spirits are on the up at the sector's independently-run car service firms, the mood at businesses which are tied to a brand name is more subdued. These facts are documented in the latest issue of the German "kfz-betrieb" magazine, based on its car sector index - known as BIX - which is a reliable barometer for measuring the current mood of the country's entire motor trade.
The index for independent businesses went up by five points while car dealerships contractually tied to a certain make of car, meanwhile, showed a slight downward trend. Nevertheless, it must be said that both indices remained at a relatively high level - showing 125 and 105 points respectively. The reason for this can be found in the sustained upswing in the general economy.
Even though the increase in VAT and the weak start to the year during the first two months put the dampers on companies, nevertheless 48 percent of owners of independent car repair garages and businesses regard their position as being "good". Dealers of specific makes of car, however, are slightly dispirited. In their case, only 28 percent assessed their company's economic position as being "good". It must be said, however, that dealers of the top German names of cars express greater satisfaction than the overall average (with 42 percent describing their position as "good"). According to the comments made by Germany's Automobile Industry Association (VDA) on the decline in demand in the car trade, the weak level of incoming orders for new cars is mainly because several different incentive programs are currently on their way out.
Just about 30 percent of dealers of new cars in the eastern part of Germany and 27 percent in the western part forecast that their gross revenues will show an increase in the coming month. As far as their car service business is concerned, 38 percent of the contractually-bound business partners are expecting to see a rise in revenues. Only 5 percent of the latter think that their car repair business will find that revenues for June are lower than the previous month's level.
"kfz-betrieb" is published by Vogel Auto Media, Würzburg/Germany, and is the most widely read specialist magazine in the German car trade, celebrating its 95th anniversary in 2005 and fulfilling the role of official publication of the German vehicle trade association (ZDK), which represents the interests of over 40,000 car dealer businesses and repair garages.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact:
Norbert Rubbel
Editor - "Services & Technology" Department
Editorial office of "kfz-betrieb" - weekly journal & website
Vogel Auto Media
97064 Würzburg
Germany
Phone +49 (0)931-418-2634
Fax +49 (0)931-418-2050
Email: norbert_rubbel@vogel-automedien.de
