The business climate in the German auto industry became gloomier in August, the leading ifo institute reported on Wednesday after the publication of the latest index, which showed that the index fell by 6.2 points to -24.7 points.
“Sentiment in the auto industry is plummeting,” said Anita Wölfl, an automotive analyst at ifo. The decline was the fourth in a row, after a slight temporary recovery, the Munich-based institute said.
Wolfl said extremely pessimistic business expectations for the next six months were behind the drop in sentiment, with the forward-looking index falling to -40.5 points from -29.5 points in July.
“Companies in the German automotive industry are suffering from a lack of new orders, especially from abroad. This is now also reflected in personnel planning,” says Wölfl.
The export expectations indicator fell sharply for the third time in a row and now stands at -29.6 points – the lowest level in a long time.
