BERLIN, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Germany's automotive industry continued to assess the current business situation as worse than the financial crisis in 2009, according to a business survey published by ifo Institute on Wednesday.
The index for current business recovered slightly and stood at minus 84.4 points in May, according to ifo. During the financial crisis in 2009, the index had only fallen to minus 82.9 points.
However, business expectations of Germany's automotive industry lightened up and were "no longer quite so pessimistic" as the expectation index rose from minus 44.4 points to minus 13.4 points, according to ifo.
"The industry is down in a dark cellar, and although it has managed to climb back up a few steps, there is still no sign of light," said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys at ifo.
The production index recorded a positive value of 22.7 points in May after falling to minus 41.5 points in April. "This means more companies reported that they wanted to expand their currently very low production," ifo noted.
Germany's largest car manufacturers Volkswagen as well as Daimler and BMW have already started to gradually ramp up production after a five-week shutdown in March and April due to COVID-19.
For the past two days, the German government has been discussing a comprehensive economic stimulus package, including purchase premiums for cars, to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis.
Two weeks ago, the German Council of Economic Experts advised that the government should not be led, under the influence of individual sectors, to introduce a large number of sector-specific measures, such as a purchase premium for vehicles. Enditem
