German Automotive Industry Less Pessimistic On Outlook - Ifo

Confidence among companies in Germany's automotive industry improved in April though they remained concerned about a lack of orders, a survey by the ifo institute showed Thursday.

The business climate for Germany's automotive industry rose to -1.5 points from -5.3 points in March, the think tank said.

"Companies in Germany's automotive industry rate their current business situation as slightly better, but more importantly, their outlook once again turned much less pessimistic than in March," Anita Wolfl, a specialist at the ifo Center for Industrial Organization and New Technologies, said.

"However, the order situation is putting a damper on the business climate," Wolfl said.

The ifo survey found that companies still viewed their order backlog to be relatively small and more companies than in March reported a lack of orders as an obstacle to production.

However, the slump in demand in April was significantly lower than in the previous month and the order backlog is also sufficient for a longer period of time, the survey found.

"Both can be seen as positive signs," Wolfl added.

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