After the Abwrackprämien-high in 2009 (which saved the auto industry from damnation and got rid of a lot of old cars), and the short hangover that followed, Germany is definitely back to normal. For the second month in a row, German new car sales are at 2008 levels. According to the official data of the German Kraftfahrtbundesamt, October sales were 20 percent below October 2009, but only 0.8 percent below October 2008. The graph above tells a better story.

The rebound of the bigger bore cars, pretty much unsalable last year, continues. The upper middle class is  up 40.1 percent, SUVs gained 34.6  percent, sports cars are up17.2 percent. The Volvo 70, the BMW X1 and the Audi TT received special mentions in the official dispatches of the government agency. For all data in their German glory, click here.