German car sales flat in March
BERLIN (Reuters) - German car sales were flat in March, the country's main industry association said on Monday, marking the first month in almost a year that sales volumes did not grow in Europe's biggest auto market.
Registrations of new passenger cars in Germany totalled 323,000 vehicles last month, the same level as in March 2015, the VDA industry lobby said, citing the impact of fewer selling days and the Easter holidays.
March is the first month since May 2015 that German car sales failed to grow, according to VDA records. First-quarter sales rose 4 percent to 791,500 cars.
"Compared with year-earlier records, the March figures give no real indication of demand, as Easter last year was in April while this year it occurred in March," VDA chief Matthias Wissmann said.
Domestic orders dropped 11 percent in March, while domestic production fell 7 percent to 516,100 cars, VDA said. Exports declined 8 percent to 396,300 vehicles.
Germany's KBA motoring watchdog said a brand-by-brand breakdown of March registrations would not be released until Tuesday.
Flat sales in Germany contrasts with robust growth in France and Italy, the third and second largest markets in the European Union, where sales in March jumped 7.5 percent and 17.4 percent respectively.
(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Arno Schuetze and Jane Merriman)
