BERLIN, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The trend towards increasingly powerful cars in Germany, which had already been ongoing for decades, continues, according to an analysis by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) published on Monday.
While new cars in Germany had 159 horsepower (hp) on average last year, the average engine power of new vehicles registered between January and May 2020 increased to 166 hp, according to the study. In 1990, the average engine in Germany only delivered 92 hp.
"The analysis of the last 50 years shows that crises and significant losses of purchasing power do not lead to a trend towards small cars," said CAR Director Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer.
According to the analysis, the only decline in average hp in the past 30 years was registered in the crisis year 2009, when the so-called scrappage bonus boosted the share of small cars in the overall market in Germany to 34 percent while the average engine power fell to 118 hp.
"Even after the COVID-19 pandemic, the horsepower figures of new passenger cars in Germany will rise," Dudenhoeffer said. With the current fuel prices, there was little incentive to buy cars "one size smaller."
Germany would remain a "car country," only the engines would be carbon-free, but higher-powered cars would "most likely continue to dominate our roads in the future," Dudenhoeffer said. Enditem
