Würzburg, January 10, 2008
The mood among entrepreneurs is divided: While the index of independent service companies remained at a relatively high level of 117 points in December, the figure for branded companies reached an all-time low of 81 points at the end of 2007. The index for contract partners of car manufacturers and importers also fell by 28 points compared to the previous year.
The mood among entrepreneurs is divided: While the index of independent service companies remained at a relatively high level of 117 points in December, the figure for branded companies reached an all-time low of 81 points at the end of 2007. The index for contract partners of car manufacturers and importers also fell by 28 points compared to the previous year. Only 6 percent of brand company owners rated the economic situation in the automotive sector as "good". This was the result of a survey conducted by the Bank Deutsches Kraftfahrzeuggewerbe and the trade journal "kfz-betrieb" Wochenjournal & Online. kfz-betrieb" reports on the results in issue 1/2, which will be published on January 10, as well as on the Internet at www.kfz-betrieb.de.
The main reason for the gloomy mood is the decline in vehicle sales. Compared to the same month last year, 69 percent of those surveyed reported lower revenues in the new car business. Dealers offering German premium brands were hit particularly hard. As many as three quarters of them recorded falling sales of new vehicles. In the used car business, too, almost half of the authorized dealers registered lower revenues and only one in ten registered higher revenues.
The sales trend in the workshop business brightened up the overall gloomy mood of brand-based entrepreneurs somewhat. A good third of them achieved higher revenues in service and spare parts sales than in the previous year. However, just under a quarter of authorized service companies in eastern Germany saw a drop in workshop sales.
Nevertheless, the manufacturers in eastern Germany rate their future development in customer service better than their colleagues in the west. Just under a third (22 percent in western Germany) expect service turnover to increase in the coming month.
"kfz-betrieb" is a trade magazine published by Vogel Auto Medien, Würzburg. The most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for 97 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German automotive trade (ZDK), the professional lobby for over 40,000 car dealerships and workshops. Daily news from the entire automotive industry can be found at www.kfz-betrieb.de and in the daily newsletter.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Norbert Rubbel
Editorial office "kfz-betrieb"-Wochenjournal & Online
Service & Technology department
Vogel Auto Medien GmbH & Co. KG
Max-Planck-Straße 7/9
97064 Würzburg
Tel. 0931/418-26 34
Fax 0931/418-20 60
norbert_rubbel@vogel-automedien.de
