Production and exports down by more than 50 percent – Domestic orders for vans increase due to environmental bonus
VDA: Commercial Vehicle Markets Continue to Decline
Frankfurt am Main, April 7, 2009. In March 2009 the domestic market for commercial vehicles continued its steep decline. At 23,300 units, new vehicle registrations were down 16 percent from the level recorded in the same month last year. The contraction was weaker than that suffered in the first quarter (-25 percent), however there were three more working days in March this year. Registrations of new vans fell 17 percent, and the heavy-duty trucks market was down 14 percent.
There was a 13 percent increase in domestic orders in March compared to the result posted in the same month in 2008. This was due to higher demand for vans (+26 percent). Owners who register their private vans as passenger vehicles are eligible for the environmental bonus. The development of the market for heavy-duty trucks, by contrast, paints a bleak picture: In this segment orders were down 46 percent - despite the three additional working days in March. Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), commented: "As a result of the sharp drop in demand, in 2009 the commercial vehicles sector is facing the most formidable challenges it has encountered in more than 60 years. Politicians should do everything possible to reduce burdens on the manufacturers and their suppliers, but also on the customers from the transport and logistics business."
In March the export markets once again suffered a dramatic decline (-61 percent), and the result for the first quarter as a whole was down 62 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008. And there are no indications of a turnaround in the months ahead. Incoming orders from abroad in March once again dropped 55 percent; with this figure factored in, there has been a 62-percent decrease in the number of commercial vehicles ordered by foreign customers since the beginning of 2009.
The manufacturers are adjusting to these market conditions, reducing production at commercial vehicle plants in Germany by more than half (52 percent) in March, compared to the same month last year. The production volume in the first quarter of 2009 was thus cut 55 percent from the level during the same period in 2008. "The commercial vehicles markets are suffering a terrible downturn worldwide," says Wissmann. "To adjust capacities and costs, our companies are exhausting every means of gaining flexibility - reduction of working time accounts, extensions of vacation time, and short-time work. But there are only so many ways to boost flexibility. If the markets don't stabilize soon, we can't rule out the possibility that further measures will be needed."
