German new car sales pick up

Frankfurt - German new car sales picked up speed in December compared with sales in November, the automobile federation VDA said Tuesday, but slumped by 23% in 2010 as a whole.

A total of 230 400 new vehicles were registered in the biggest European car market in December, the first monthly increase since November 2009, a VDA statement said.

For the entire year, 2 916 300 new cars were registered, it added.

Auto exports gained 11% on the month to 324 400 vehicles and leapt by 24% on the year owing to strong demand in emerging markets such as China.

Overall production was 18% higher in December than in the previous month, at 413 500 units, but increased by a more modest 12% over the entire year to 5 551 400 vehicles.

Of that total, 4.2 million were shipped to foreign markets, VDA said.