Production of passenger cars in Germany remains the first in Europe
- German production of passenger cars (sedans, station wagons, coupes, convertibles, SUVs, minivans) became the largest on the continent in 1956 and has continued to be so until today. The German auto industry miracle was mainly based in the 1950s on the success of the Volkswagen Beetle sold in large quantities in its native country but also in the United States where it remained for a long time the most imported model.
- The growth of the German automobile industry was also the result of other brands which continued to progress in Europe or the United States such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Porsche. Aside from the oil crisis of 1973-1974, the growth of German production was practically uninterrupted until 2011, much later than in France or Italy. The production peak was reached in 2011 with 5.7 million units and stabilized until 2014.
- This uninterrupted growth can be attributed to the success of Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Porsche models, but also to the success of Volkswagen which moved from the Beetle to a wide range of new front-wheel drive models (Polo, Golf, Passat).
- The drop in production observed between 2015 and 2021 is all the more striking and spectacular, with the volume of passenger cars produced falling from 5.6 million to 3 million units in six years.
- The explanation for this sudden drop lies in the failure of certain new models and the relocation of models to North America, China, Eastern and Southern Europe. We can add the gradual withdrawal of Opel and Ford from Germany.
- In 2023, the volume of German automobile production will increase to 4 million passenger cars.