Frankfurt - New car registrations in Germany, a key measure of demand in one of the most crucial sectors of Europe's top economy, fell sharply in January, official data showed on Monday.
Some 192 100 new cars were registered in January, a slump of 9% compared with the same month a year earlier, the VDA auto industry calculated.
Export sales of German-made cars were down as well, falling by 8% to 310 700 units in January.
In terms of output, the number of cars rolling off the production line fell by 11% to 394 300, VDA added.