German car market suffers new setback in April

German car sales suffered another heavy setback in April, official figures published Wednesday showed, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine added to the headwinds faced by the sector.

New registrations fell by 21.5 percent year-on-year to just over 180,000 cars, the federal transport authority (KBA) said in a statement.

It came after the indicator slumped by 17.5 percent in March, adding to the pressure on the sector, which saw production constrained significantly in 2021 by persistent supply problems.

With crucial components from Ukraine running short and Western sanctions against Moscow adding further pressure on already stressed supply chains, the outlook for the flagship industry has darkened further.

“Hard lockdowns in China” to contain the spread of the coronavirus added to the disruption faced by auto manufacturers, EY analyst Peter Fuss said.

“The current very difficult situation will last through the summer at least,” he said.

The VDA auto industry association last month lowered its car production estimate for 2022, saying it now expected just seven percent growth domestically this year, down from 13 percent previously.

Meanwhile, the number of battery-powered cars sold declined by 6.9 percent year-on-year, despite their market share climb to 12.3 percent from 10.4 percent.