German car sales fall for second month

New car registrations in Germany, a key measure of demand in one of the most crucial sectors of Europe's top economy, fell for the second month running in September, data showed on Wednesday. A total 247,199 new cars were registered last month, a drop of 1.2 percent compared to sales in the same month in 2012, according to data compiled by the KBA federal automobile agency. In August they had also tumbled, falling 5.0 percent compared to sales in the same month in 2012, according to data compiled by another agency, the VDA automotive industry federation. But that drop was largely due to a calendar effect of there having been one fewer working day in August this year than last, VDA said. Taking the first nine months of 2013, new car registrations fell by 6.0 percent to 2.2 million vehicles compared to the same period a year earlier, the KBA data showed.