Eventful days and weeks lie behind us: the CDU/CSU parties and the FDP received a clear majority for a new political start, around 850,000 IAA visitors got to see 100 world premieres and many car dealers recorded a strong sales boost thanks to the environmental bonus. But nobody really knows what the future holds for economic policy and new car sales.



What is certain is that the industry indices for branded and independent car dealerships have fallen drastically and reached the one hundred point mark in September. The reasons for the decline lie primarily in the assessment of the economic situation. One in two business owners rate the current economic situation as "average", while one in five rate it as "poor".



However, although pessimism is growing among franchised dealers, two thirds of them recorded higher revenues in the new car business last month than in the same period of the previous year. However, the contract partners of car manufacturers are less rosy about their future sales development: only 25 percent of those surveyed expect revenues from the sale of new cars to rise in October, while 45 percent expect them to fall.



The brand-bound contractors are also cautious about their workshop business next month. Two thirds expect turnover to remain the same and only 17% expect it to increase - despite the upcoming winter tire season. Independent service companies in eastern Germany are particularly pessimistic. Only eight percent of them expect workshop turnover to increase in October.



Further details and the BIX archive can be found on the Internet at www.kfz-betrieb.de/branchenindex.



"kfz-betrieb" is the most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry and has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for 98 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German Motor Trade (ZDK), the professional interest group for around 40,000 car dealerships and workshops. Daily news from the entire automotive industry is available at www.kfz-betrieb.de and in the daily newsletter. The parent company Vogel Business Media is one of the leading German providers of specialist information with around 100 trade journals and 60 websites as well as numerous international activities. Its headquarters are in Würzburg.