Dealerships in Germany will be allowed to resume selling cars as German government relaxes its coronavirus lockdown in Europe’s biggest market.
Auto lobby groups welcomed the move. They had warned that many dealerships faced bankruptcy after building up high inventories that cannot be sold to customers.
The ZDK car retailers lobby group said that allowing sales will enable dealerships “to save some of the particularly crucial spring business that has largely been lost.”
The VDA manufacturers lobby group said reopening dealerships is an “important and necessary step” on the way to enabling production to be ramped up again. “There is no production without sales,” VDA President Hildegard Mueller said to the German dpa press agency.
The government did not set a date for when dealerships will reopen for new and used car sales because the timing will be up to individual states. But industry groups expect some showrooms could start opening as soon as Monday. They say dealerships will be able to quickly resume sales after they have implemented safety measures because many have remained open for servicing and repairs, which is allowed.