Due to the bottlenecks, production at the location will be stopped for the time being.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The situation of German car manufacturers and their suppliers deteriorated considerably in September due to a lack of preliminary products. The corresponding Ifo barometer fell from 32.0 points in the previous month to 13.2 points, as the Ifo Institute announced on Monday for its monthly survey. In July the value was even at 52.9.
“Current figures show that the automotive industry is the sector most affected by supply bottlenecks with preliminary products,” said Oliver Falck, head of the Ifo Center for Industrial Organization and New Technologies. The car manufacturer Opel announced just last week that it would close its plant in Eisenach at least until the end of the year due to a lack of semiconductors.
Positive impulses for the industry come from abroad: export expectations have improved significantly. This indicator rose from 17.0 to 34.5 points. This can have a positive effect on production expectations: This value climbed from 35.4 to 37.4 points.
“But that shouldn’t hide the fact that the uncertainty of many consumers in China due to the crisis in real estate developer Evergrande is depressing the mood of German carmakers, who are now producing more cars in China than in Germany,” said Falck. Trading in shares of the heavily indebted company Evergrande was suspended on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday after the company missed a major interest payment for the second time last week.
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According to the Ifo Institute, the domestic situation also remains critical for the German auto industry: the order backlog fell to 5.3 points, after 17.1 in August. In July, 52.5 counters were still recorded. For the first time since May 2020, demand has been falling again, the researchers determined. The value fell from 1.7 to minus 15.7 points.
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