Emissions test woes ding German car sales

Months of disruption to the German car industry from new emissions tests barely dented annual sales figures in 2018, official data showed Friday, although diesel vehicles' popularity ebbed further.

A total of 3.44 million new cars were registered on the roads last year, the KBA transport authority said, 0.2 percent lower than in 2017. The annual figure smooths out wide variations in monthly deliveries. Carmakers rushed as many vehicles out of factory doors as possible in the months before the new Europe-wide emissions tests known as WLTP came into force in September.

That month saw registrations tumble before a rebound in the final quarter, although at 237,000 December's figure was still down 6.7 percent year-on-year.

The tougher Europe-wide emissions tests are one of the political responses to Volkswagen's "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal. Mammoth carmaker VW admitted in 2015 that it manipulated 11 million diesel-fuelled cars worldwide to appear less polluting in the lab than on the road.

The hangover for diesel has been harsh, with just 32.3 percent of vehicles sold in Germany last year powered by the fuel -- compared with 48 percent in 2015 and 38.8 percent in 2017.