German car sales climb but picture stays bleak

German car sales rose in September, official data showed on Thursday, but analysts saw little reason to cheer as recession fears overshadowed a long-awaited easing of supply chain frictions. Almost 225,000 new cars hit the roads last month, the KBA federal transport authority said in a statement – a 14 per cent increase on a year earlier. But the jump mainly reflected an "extremely weak" September last year and a delivery backlog from the previous month, the VDIK car importers' federation said. VDIK president Reinhard Zirpel said the picture over the first three quarters of 2022 was "sobering". "For the first time ever, passenger car sales are below two million units after nine months," he said. Car manufacturers have for months had to deal with supply issues, with shortages of key components leading to intermittent production stops and a slump in sales. EY analyst Peter Fuss said that while the global shortage in semiconductors – used in vehicles' electronic systems – appeared to be easing, car demand was likely to shrink in the coming months as Germany braces for a recession and inflation stands at historic highs. "We should not expect a sweeping market recovery in the coming...