German car exports rise strongly on year in May, but slide continues at home

German car exports up by nearly half in May

BERLIN — German car exports increased by nearly half in May compared to a year earlier but sales continued to slide at home, an industry group said Wednesday.

Germany exported 367,700 cars last month, an increase of 46 percent compared with May 2009, said the VDA group, which represents automakers. That followed a 58 percent year-on-year rise in April.

Orders from abroad were up 22 percent in May compared to a year earlier, rising for the 10th consecutive month. China and the United States have provided strong demand this year, VDA said.

Germany is home to car makers including Daimler AG, Porsche SE, Volkswagen AG and BMW AG.

Sales within Germany have been slipping in year-on-year terms for months after a popular government car-scrapping program expired.

That trend continued in May. Some 252,800 new cars — German-made and others — were registered in Germany, 34 percent fewer than a year earlier. Domestic sales were down nearly 32 percent in April.

Over the first five months of 2010, exports were up 49 percent to nearly 1.77 million cars, VDA said. Production rose 26 percent in the five months to 2.32 million, but new registrations at home sagged by 28 percent, dropping to 1.18 million.