Berlin - Car sales in Germany surged by 40 per cent in June, data released Thursday showed. The number of new registrations in Europe's biggest car market climbed to 427,000 last month, Germany's International Association for Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK) said as auto buyers continued to take advantage of a government bonus scheme to bolster car sales.
Consequently, new car sales in Germany during the first half of the year rose by 26 per cent to a record of nearly 2.06 million units.
The government bonus scheme is aimed at encouraging car buyers to scrap older models and replace them with new more environmentally sound vehicles.
As a result, it has helped to shield the German auto market from the crisis that has been gripping the global car business.
However, releasing the data, the VDIK warned that growth in the months ahead was unlikely to reach the levels attained in the first half of the year.
The association said that sales of smaller and medium-sized cars were particularly strong during the first six months of the year.
During the first half of the year sales of smaller cars soared by 85 per cent, the VDIK said.
