Germans delay buying a car, have to work 43 weeks to buy a new one

In Germany today, the average employee has to put aside 43 weeks of wages for a new car, up from 32 weeks in 1995. According to Bloomberg, high raw material costs, complex deliveries, and strict safety and emissions regulations are forcing manufacturers to increase prices.

Models such as the VW Up, Opel Adam and Citroën C1 are no longer on the market, which has increased demand for used vehicles. Their prices have risen 88 percent in Germany over the past decade. Manufacturers are focusing on more expensive models with higher margins to finance the development of electric cars.

In Bochum, for example, the last carmaker, Opel, closed in 2014. This reduced the supply of cheap and affordable cars in the locality. A local family-owned car dealership confirmed this, noting that vehicle prices here have risen faster than residents' wages.

Many safety and emissions regulations have had an impact. Compared to 2015, today's cars must include automatic braking, lane-keeping assist or driver fatigue detection. That's why the Fiat Panda, for example, which is popular in Italy, has become 80 percent more expensive in 15 years.

Not forgetting the Union's climate policy targets. But electric cars remain expensive for customers - the VW ID.3 costs €33,330, while the Chinese alternative, the BYD Dolphin Surf, costs just €22,990. This has convinced even Chancellor Friedrich Merz to press the EU to ease the ban on the sale of new combustion engine vehicles.

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