Carmageddon? What carmageddon?
Germany’s auto industry has a huge problem: Way too many customers. “We have that fattest order books of all times,” said Esther Bahne of Audi to Germany’s Spiegel magazine. Result: Customers have to wait months for their cars. Sometimes longer than ever before, says Der Spiegel.
- The German tabloid Bild am Sonntag reports that the buyer of a lowly Audi A3 needs to wait five months until it will finally show up at the dealer.
- Golf plus: Sometimes 5 months wait.
- Mercedes: Two to four months wait.
- Even buyers of an Opel Zafira need a lot of patience: Three months on the average.
Of course it’s not the fault of the automakers. Demand in China, and, surprise, surprise, in the U.S. is to blame. And if that isn’t enough, then fingers point at the suppliers: A year ago, they were faced with imminent bankruptcy, now they are working at full capacity. “There are shortages from raw materials all the way to electronic components,” said Dr. Jürgen Geissinger, VP of the industry organization Verband der Autoindustrie (VDA).
Didn’t you already run this story about a month ago? (Not sure where those sources are getting their information. We have people in Germany who told us they don’t see it — the last time you posted this.)
It’s an update. The wait is getting longer. Last time, Opel could still deliver. Now even they are running out of cars.
Ah. I didn’t see “update” in the article. :)
My folks in Germany (who are dealership owners) are insisting they still don’t see it, although this time around they’ve heard the reports. Last time they had no idea what I was talking about.
Is this affecting US deliveries as well? Or are the Germans the only ones made to wait?