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| - New car sales in Germany fell slightly in October, official data showed Wednesday, ahead of renewed nationwide restrictions to curb a second coronavirus wave. A total of 274,303 cars were registered last month in Europe's largest car market, a drop of 3.6 percent compared with the year before, the KBA transport authority said. "The uncertain economic outlook and the overall difficult sales situation of many companies has again led to a sharp decline in registrations," said EY analyst Peter Fuss. The dip came ahead of a four-week "lockdown light" announced by Chancellor Angela Merkel, which curtails gastronomy, leisure and cultural activities for much of November and promises to subdue consumer spending. Fuss said he was expecting a "renewed decline in willingness to buy among both private individuals and companies". Unlike the first wave in the spring, which shut down much of the German economy and led to unprecedented falls in new car registrations, car dealerships and factories are staying open this time. Electric car registrations in October rocketed by 365 percent year-on-year to claim a market share of 8.4 percent, driven in part by government incentives for greener vehicles. German behemoth VW remains the overall market leader with around 17 percent of registrations, ahead of Mercedes on 12 percent, according to the KBA. Some 2.3 million new cars have been sold in the year to October, down more than 23 percent on the same period in 2019. ys-edf/mfp/rl
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