Porsche 2011 Annual Report Download - page 49

Business development
Significant growth
The global economy continued to grow in the
reporting year 2011. However, according to calcula-
tions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at 3.8
percent, growth was not only below the prior-year
figure of five percent; the generally positive eco-
nomic situation drew attention away from the deterio-
rating conditions in Europe in 2011. While the re-
gion's economy grew strongly in the first half of the
year, it was increasingly caught up in the debt crisis,
which slowed development in the euro zone consid-
erably. The consequences were obvious: even in
Germany, the growth driver of the European economy,
gross domestic product decreased slightly – com-
pared to the preceding quarter – in Q4 of 2011 for
the first time since the crisis year 2009. Germany
achieved total economic growth of three percent
during the reporting year. Although China still saw
growth of 9.2 percent in 2011, the upswing slowed
down in the Far East as a whole. Japan was addition-
ally shaken by the natural disaster in spring 2011
and experienced a decrease of 0.9 percent in the
year as a whole. Finally, development in the USA also
remained unstable. The US economy achieved total
economic growth of 1.8 percent in 2011.
The global automobile market benefited from
the positive global economy and grew by 6 percent to
65.4 million new registrations in the reporting year.
As in the prior year, the BRIC states of Brazil, Russia,
India and China contributed to the upwards trend.
According to the German Association of the Automo-
bile Industry (VDA), sales in China rose by 8 percent
to 12.2 million vehicles. In India, the increase was 6
percent to 2.5 million units; in Russia, 39 percent to
2.7 million vehicles; and in Brazil, 3 percent to 3.4
million units. The US market also achieved significant
growth. 12.7 million new passenger cars and light
trucks were sold in the USA in 2011, 10 percent
more than in the prior year.
Sales in western Europe were slightly below
the prior-year figure: 12.8 million new vehicles were
sold, down just 1 percent. However, only the good
performance of the large German market prevented a
greater decrease on the continent. In Germany, a
total of 3.2 million new passenger vehicles were sold
in 2011. This represents a 9 percent increase on the
prior year.
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