63% of franchised dealers rate their economic situation as "good", 30% as "satisfactory" and only 7% as "poor". The owners of independent garages rate their business situation similarly: 58 percent as "good", 34 percent as "satisfactory" and eight percent as "poor". This was the result of the survey conducted by the Bank Deutsches Kraftfahrzeuggewerbe (BDK) and the trade magazine "kfz-betrieb".



The result of the positive sentiment: at 143 and 138 points respectively, the industry indices for branded car dealerships and independent garages remained at a high level in March. The contractual partners of car manufacturers and importers are in particularly high spirits. At 66 points, their index value exceeded the previous year's result and has also been above that of the brand-independent service companies for two months.



The new car business developed positively for the brand dealers: a good half of those surveyed recorded higher sales and just under a quarter recorded unchanged sales compared to the same month last year. Among dealers representing German premium brands, as many as 72 percent reported rising revenue from the sale of new vehicles.



The used car business in contract car dealerships could not be better: 44 percent of dealers reported rising and 37 percent stable sales of second-hand cars.



The optimistic sales expectations of authorized dealers are also more than pleasing: only seven percent are forecasting falling sales in the new car business for the coming month. In contrast, 37 percent expect sales to remain the same and 56 percent expect sales to increase



"kfz-betrieb" is the most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry and has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for 100 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German Motor Vehicle Trade (ZDK), the professional interest group for around 38,000 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. The company celebrates its 120th anniversary in 2011.