German automotive sector’s sentiment improves slightly in September

By Emir Yildirim

ISTANBUL (AA) – The German automotive sector’s sentiment saw a slight improvement of 1.3 points in September, said the Munich-based ifo Institute on Wednesday.

While the indicator for German automotive sector sentiment remains at “a very low level” of minus 23 points, the institute said companies were “less pessimistic” in September about coming months, seen in a slight rise in the business expectations indicator from minus 36.9 in August to minus 32.4 points.

Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted ifo indicator for the business situation fell from minus 7.5 in September to minus 13 points in August.

Companies in the sector said that the current situation is “noticeably worse,” according to ifo, with the rise in competitiveness of affordable Chinese cars in the market, coupled with slowing economic growth in the EU.