German new car sales fell back in February, official data showed Thursday, although the decrease was not big enough to cancel out a sharp rise the previous month. The KBA transport authority said 243,600 vehicles were registered in February, 2.6 percent fewer than in the same month last year. Business registrations - accounting for around two-thirds of the German market - fell by 3.5 percent, while private customers shed just 0.9 percent.
The VDIK foreign carmakers' association attributed the drop to a fewer number of working days in February compared with the same month last year. Correcting for that calendar effect, sales last month were in fact 2.4 percent higher than the previous year's figure, it calculated. "Private demand continues to contribute decisively to growth in the overall market," said VDIK president Reinhard Zirpel.
Looking across the first two months, the KBA figures showed 3.5 percent more cars sold in 2017 than last year, at 485,000.
Among German firms, BMW subsidiary Mini boasted double-digit growth in registrations at 15 percent, with more modest gains for Volkswagen subsidiaries Audi and Porsche and for Cologne-based Ford Europe.
All other German carmakers saw sales fall back, with the sharpest decline - of 21.6 percent - seen by Daimler's small car Smart.
Registrations of VW cars were down 18.6 percent, as the auto giant continued to be dogged by headlines surrounding its "dieselgate" emissions-cheating scandal and its executives' generous pay. But VW nevertheless remained the biggest-selling brand in Germany in February, boasting a market share of 17.5 percent.
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