Würzburg/Germany, 2 October 2007
Sixty percent of dealers of specific makes of car are registering sinking gross revenues as far as sales of new cars are concerned. The index figures at independent car service businesses are on a slight downward trend while, at the same time, the index figures at businesses dealing in specific car makes are on the rise. But: even so, neither of these business categories is anywhere near to an economic pick-up. One quarter of the businesses dealing in specific car makes and seventeen percent of owners of independent car businesses assess their economic situation as poor. These are the current findings of the car sector index for the German motor sector based on a monthly survey performed by BBE Unternehmensberatung (a management consultancy firm) and commissioned by the German motor sector magazine, »kfz-betrieb«, together with the Santander Consumer Bank.
The businesses surveyed – contractual partners of car manufacturers and importers of cars – are still very concerned about the business sector of new car sales. A good sixty percent of the car dealers found that their gross revenues in this sector were lower than in the same month of the previous year. Not even the automobile exhibition in Frankfurt, the IAA, which is labelled the „world’s most important mobility trade fair“, was able to convince car drivers and reverse the stalled demand on the market. There were no signs of sales being triggered in the way that the VDA (the German Automobile Industry Association) had promised. „The lull in business with new cars, which has been the subject of much debate, is partly due to the fact that vehicles are increasingly better equipped and also last longer than ever before. That means that relatively new second-hand cars are a real alternative for buyers,“ as Susanne Keuler from BBE Unternehmensberatung points out in analysing the reasons for people’s reluctance to purchase a brand new car. As a result of this, a good half of car dealers expect their revenues from the second-hand car sector for the coming month to stay at the same level. On the other hand, forty percent of those surveyed anticipate a decline in sales of new cars.
Further information is available in the car sector index („BIX“) archive at the following website: www.kfz-betrieb.de/Studien und Statistiken.
»kfz-betrieb« is a specialist magazine published by Vogel Auto Media, Würzburg. It is the most widely read specialist magazine in the German car trade, delivering all the relevant information to people in the automobile trade and service sector for the last 97 years. »kfz-betrieb« fulfils 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. Current daily news from the entire motor sector is available at www.kfz-betrieb.de and also in the newsletter issued daily.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact:
Norbert Rubbel
„Services & Technology“ Department
Editorial office of »kfz-betrieb« – weekly journal & website
Vogel Auto Medien
97082 Würzburg
Germany
Tel. +49 (0)931 418-26 34
Fax +49 (0)931 418-20 60
Email: norbert_rubbel@vogel-automedien.de
