Domestic commercial vehicle market consolidates in February

Foreign markets slowly regain a foothold

Berlin, 8 March 2010. In February 2010 the commercial vehicle market in Germany shrank in comparison to February of last year by a total of 3 per cent, to 16,400 units. For this first time since September 2008 the weight class of up to 6 t again gained a little ground (+3 per cent). In the heavy vehicle segment domestic sales fell once more by 18 per cent.

However, orders from within Germany in this class are continuing their upward trend, with 19 per cent growth as compared to the same month last year. Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), stressed, "Since October of 2009 orders from domestic customers have been on the rise again. While the level is still very low, the turnaround is proving to be stable.”

A new trend can also be made out on the foreign markets. In February a total of 17,950 commercial vehicles were exported (+58 per cent). This is the first rise in exports since September 2008. Last month incoming orders from abroad increased for the fourth time in succession. Overall growth of 71 per cent in orders is pushing the order volume slowly towards the medium-term average. Wissmann underscored, "There is still a long way to go to get back to the level we had before the crisis, but we have made a start.”

Against the background of rising exports and a gradual stabilization on the domestic market, production at German plants increased by 47 per cent. While assembly of vans nearly doubled, the production of heavy vehicles slipped again slightly.