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- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
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- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
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- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
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- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
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- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
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- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
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- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
German car sales plunge in August as EV slump worsens
Sales of new cars plummeted in Germany in August, official data showed Wednesday, dragged down by a record fall in demand for electric vehicles in Europe's biggest auto market.
A total of 197,322 new cars were registered in Germany last month, the KBA federal transport authority said, a 27.8-percent drop on a year earlier.
The fall was led by a "historic decline" in sales of in battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), the VDIK car importers' federation said, which plunged by 68.8 percent to just over 27,000 units.
The electric slump was partly down to a comparison effect with August 2023, when drivers rushed to buy EVs before certain government subsidies ran out.
But German EV sales have been on a downward path all year in the wake of the phaseout of purchase incentives, adding to the headwinds for carmakers as they face stricter climate targets in coming years and stiffer competition from abroad.
Electric mobility "has gone into reverse gear in Germany," said EY analyst Constantin Gall, adding that he saw little improvement ahead.
"Customers currently prefer combustion engines -- if they decide to buy a new car at all," he said, predicting that EV sales this year would be "significantly" lower than in 2022 and 2023.
The weakening EV demand has fuelled concerns about the wider car industry, with auto giant Volkswagen making the shock announcement this week that it was considering closing plants in Germany for the first time.
Volkswagen's Audi subsidiary in July already announced the possible closure of its Brussels plant for making electric vehicles.
German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil on Wednesday pledged new government incentives to purchase EVs.
L.Davis--AMWN