DPA
Traffic on the A8 in Bavaria – new cars currently have a whopping 166 hp on average, according to a study
The trend towards increasingly more motorized cars in Germany has been going on for decades. According to industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, the average new car had 159 HP last year, this year it was between January and May registered vehicles on average even 166 hp. At the same time, the proportion of small cars in new registrations fell further from 20 to 18 percent.
Even in times of crisis such as the recession after reunification in 1993 and the euro crisis in 2012/13, the horsepower of new vehicles rose. While the average new car in Germany still had 92 HP in 1990, the engine output continued to grow to 131 HP until the 2008 financial crisis.
PS numbers will continue to rise even after the corona crisis
The only decline in the past 30 years, according to Dudenhöffer, was in 2009 when the scrappage bonus rocketed the share of small cars in new vehicles to 34 percent and the average engine output dropped to 118 hp. But in the following year the previous level was reached again, and since then the horsepower has continued to increase year after year.
Dudenhöffers forecast: “Even after the Covid-19 pandemic the horsepower figures of new passenger cars in Germany will increase. “With the current fuel prices, the incentive is small,” to buy the car one size smaller. “Higher purchase prices would be accepted after a certain time. The engines would be more climate-friendly,” but horsepower – It is very likely that stronger cars will continue to shape our streets in the future. This suggests long data series from the past. “
wed / dpa-afx