German car exports down, domestic demand grows

German carmakers recorded a decline in exports of 13 percent in 2019 compared to the previous year while the number of new car registrations in the country kept growing, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) announced on Monday.

In 2019, German carmakers had manufactured 4.7 million cars, 9 percent less than in 2018, and exported 3.5 million of them. According to VDA, the main reason for the strong decline of 13 percent in international exports had been "weaker international demand."

In Germany, new cars were in greater demand than at any time since 2009. According to VDA, the German passenger car market grew by 5 percent to 3.6 million new registrations in 2019.

According to the German Motor Transport Authority (KBA), almost all German car brands showed a rise in new registrations in 2019. Germany's luxury car makers Mercedes, BMW and Audi managed to increase registrations by around 5 to 6 percent while sports car manufacturer Porsche even increased registrations by 9.5 percent.

More than half of all new registrations in Germany were Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), compact or small cars, according to KBA.