German new car sales steady in February

New car sales in Germany, a key gauge of demand in one of the most important sectors of Europe's biggest economy, remained steady in February, official data showed Friday. A total 224,318 new cars were registered last month, unchanged from a year earlier, the German federal motor transport authority calculated in its monthly statistics. Separate data published by the VDA auto industry federation put the number at 224,400 cars, also steady year-on-year. The numbers were "in line with our forecasts," said VDA chief Matthias Wissmann. He said that positive developments on the labour markets -- unemployment in Germany is currently at record lows -- offered support. At the same time, German auto exports fell 6.0 percent to 379,500 in February, pulled down by weakness in many markets in western Europe, VDA said. By contrast, exports of cars and light trucks to the United States jumped 29 percent to 87,100 vehicles. The number of cars that rolled off the production line in Germany fell by 3.0 percent to 504,100 last month, VDA said.