Fewer German cars made

Press, 14 June 1984, Page 31

Fewer German cars made

West German car production is falling. The German Automobile Industry Association has reported that April car production fell 57,000 from March production to 324,000. That was a 12 per cent decline from April, 1983. New car registrations for March fell 7.1 per cent from March, 1983, but recovered in April.

In the meantime, the metalworkers’ industrial action for a 36-hour week has left 250,000 workers on strike, locked out or laid off because of parts shortages. Daimler-Benz has been losing 2200 cars and 600 trucks daily. The estimated loss is said to be $67 million a day. Assembly has stopped at Audi and BMW and the shortages have spread to involve General Motor’s Opel division, and Ford and Volkswagen plants in Germany and Belgium.

Now in its fourth week, the strike could also cause big problems in Grand Prix racing unless it is resolved soon.

KKK, which supplies turbochargers to Brabham, Ferrari, McLaren, ATS, Arrows and others, is not working. Marie, the piston manufacturer for every turbocharged Formula 1 engine, except Honda, is not producing either.

The Formula 1 teams experienced no supply problems at the Monaco Grand' Prix on June 3, but there: could be a shortage of some' components when the threerace North American section of the world championship begins with the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal on Sunday.