BERLIN (AP) -- Exports of German cars rose again in July as global markets recovered, though the growth rate was less spectacular than in previous months, an industry group said Tuesday.
German automakers exported 312,400 cars last month, a 6 percent increase compared with July 2009, the VDA group said.
For the first seven months of the year, total exports were up 39 percent to nearly 2.5 million cars.
Germany automakers such as Daimler AG, Volkswagen AG and BMW AG have seen their performance this year boosted by strong growth in China in particular, but also in the United States and elsewhere.
VDA said the international car business "is still on a course of growth, although with reduced speed" -- dovetailing with recent assessments from automakers.
New orders from abroad were up 14 percent year-on-year in July, the group said. That compares with an increase for the year so far of 26 percent.
New registrations of cars in Germany itself have been falling for months after a popular government car-scrapping bonus program that boosted sales strongly expired last fall.
In July, new registrations of all cars -- German-made and imported -- were down 30 percent from a year earlier at 237,500. For the year to date, they were down 29 percent at 1.7 million.
"The market is developing as expected after the special effects of the previous year," VDA president Matthias Wissmann said.
"The robust foreign order situation and the expected brightening of the domestic market at the end of the year will have a positive effect for the full year on car production in Germany," he added.
Production was down 5 percent in July at 388,400 cars because traditional summer factory breaks were scrapped last year. For the year to date, production was up 19 percent at 3.2 million.
