BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) expects significantly more new registrations for the current year than last. For Germany, the VDA now expects around 2.8 million new cars instead of 2.7 million, as previously announced by the association on Tuesday. The forecast growth would thus double from 2 to around 4 percent. Nevertheless, sales thus remain about a quarter below the level of 2019 - before the Corona crisis and the war in Ukraine, it said.

"Although the situation is slowly improving, the restrictions on preliminary and intermediate products as well as high energy and raw material prices are dampening the necessary recovery," VDA President Hildegard Müller announced. "Berlin and Brussels must secure our raw material supply with partnerships to make Germany and Europe more independent and supply chains more resilient."/maa/DP/tih