Global car sales picking up
December 2, 2016
German car industry officials said they expected rising car sales worldwide in 2017.
The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) predicted Friday that close to 84 million new vehicles would be shifted next year globally, which would mark a 2-percent increase from the estimated figure for 2016.
VDA President Matthias Wissmann said China had logged a 15-percent surge in new registrations this year, with his organization expecting another 5-percent rise in car sales in 2017 in the world's most important vehicle market.
Auto industry chugging along
In Germany, 276,000 new cars were moved in November, Wissmann said, pointing to a 2-percent increase month on month. Car sales from January to the end of November totaled 3.095 million in the country.
VDA officials expected total sales of new cars to reach 3.4 million for the whole of 2016, which would mean the highest level logged in six years.
The association noted that buoyant sales had been facilitated by record high employment, low inflation and low interest rates.
hg/sgb (dpa, AP)