Frankfurt--New car registrations in Germany, a key measure of demand in one of the most important sectors of Europe's top economy, rose in January, the VDA industry federation said Monday.
A total of 211,337 new cars were registered last month, an increase of 2.6 percent over the figure for the same month last year, the federal automobile agency KBA said in a statement.
More than two thirds of the new car purchases were for businesses, the KBA said. And more than half of total sales were of diesel-driven cars.
The head of the automobile industry federation VDA, Matthias Wissmann, said the January sales figures marked a "pleasing start to the year," but should not be "overestimated."
A total 427,900 cars rolled off German production lines last month, a drop of 3.0 percent year-on-year, VDA said.
The number of new cars exported also declined by 3.0 percent to 332,100.
AFP
