Car dealers also made less sales in 2021 with young used vehicles and service.
(Photo: picture alliance / Wolfram Steinberg)
Dusseldorf The German car industry is becoming more optimistic. The forecasts of workshops and dealers are positive again, as Jürgen Karpinski, President of the German Motor Trade Association (ZDK), said at a press conference: “There is a certain spirit of optimism for this year.” At the beginning of February, the manufacturers’ association VDA was also cautiously positive voiced.
The ZDK is the supreme interest group for around 36,000 German car dealerships and workshops. The association expects around 2.9 million new passenger car registrations in Germany in 2022. That is significantly more than in 2021, which was more than ten percent below the previous year with only 2.6 million new registrations.
“2022 will be a good year,” added ZDK President Karpinski, who himself runs Volkswagen dealerships in the greater Frankfurt area. After two very difficult years, his industry is again looking to the future with confidence. This can be seen not only in the sales figures for new cars, but also in workshop operations. The ZDK calculates that workshop sales this year could reach the level of 2019 again.
In its forecast from the beginning of the month, the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) calculates 2.8 million new registrations in 2022. The industry is therefore somewhat more cautious with its forecast than the car dealers and refers to the lack of chips. But there are also first signs of recovery, said VDA President Hildegard Müller at the beginning of February.
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VDA chief economist Manuel Kallweit spoke of a “slight upward movement” that has been noticeable in production since the third quarter of last year. At that time, the car industry had to go through the absolute low point in chip supply. A further relaxation is to be expected in the second half of 2022 in particular, because the supply of semiconductors to car manufacturers is then likely to improve further.
>> Read here: What the German automotive industry can expect in the new year
2021 was also a difficult year overall for car dealers and garages. Sales in the new car trade, in young used cars and in service fell. Total sales in the motor vehicle trade also fell by 2.7 percent year-on-year to almost 180 billion euros.
Last year, the return on sales across all companies was 1.3 percent and thus 0.1 percentage points above the value for 2020. “However, this is no reason to erupt in jubilation,” says ZDK President Karpinski. “As predominantly medium-sized companies, we can only dream of the profit margins of manufacturers and importers in retail,” he added. A few days ago, Mercedes reported a return on sales of almost 13 percent for the past year.
The dealer association was critical of the current German funding policy for electric cars. The ongoing discussion about a possible reduction in state subsidies, especially for plug-in hybrids, is already leading to reluctance to buy. The federal government must quickly ensure clear and secure funding conditions, the association demanded.
More: Chip crisis makes new cars in short supply – but the car companies earn splendidly