Passenger car production in Germany has not returned to pre-Covid levels
- Pre-Covid, German output exceeded 5 million units a year (1998-2018). The Covid crisis cut it to 3 million by 2021.
- Recovery started in 2022 and reached 4 million units in 2023, where production has stabilized - still 1 to 1.5 million below the 2011-2017 levels. Who is responsible for this drop?
- The Volkswagen Group leads the decline: 2.6 million units in 2017 vs 1.8 million in 2025 (-0.8 million). New EV models have not offset the fall of ICE models such as the Golf.
- Relocations made it worse: the Passat moved from Emden to Bratislava (Slovakei), the Kombi from Hanover to Kocaeli (Türkei); the Touran and Arteon ended without successors.
- Opel and Ford also contributed: the Fiesta (Cologne) and Focus (Saarlouis) were discontinued, Opel Astra output collapsed, and the Vectra, Zafira and Insignia were phased out. Mercedes partly relocated to Kecskemét (Hungary) from 2012.