Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west

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Cabrio-Graben divides Germany into east and west

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-cars

The distribution of car brands based on the number of cars in Germany on January 1, 2014

The statistics of the Federal Motor Transport Authority tell a lot about the economic development in East and West. There are only no numbers for a significant automobile.

A.Most noticeable is the convertible ditch. With almost surgical precision, he still cuts through Germany 25 years after the fall of the Wall, exactly where the border between the Federal Republic and the GDR used to run. The statistics from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt), which gave “Welt” an exclusive insight into its data, make the situation very clear: When it comes to cars, there are always things that separate East and West.

The convertible is not exactly a mass product per se – even in the registration districts with the highest convertible density, every 20th car is registered without a roof (Starnberg near Munich holds the record with 5.8 percent registered convertibles). But if you step beyond the imaginary limit, you can see the difference extremely clearly.

While three percent convertibles are registered in the Schleswig-Holstein district of Lubeck, it is only 1.3 percent right next door in northwest Mecklenburg. And whether you compare Wolfenbuttel (west) with the Harz (east) district or Coburg in Bavaria with Sonneberg in Thuringia: almost everywhere, a good two and a half times more convertibles are registered in the west than in the east. The only exceptions are Berlin and Potsdam, where a little more convertibles are registered – but where a little more wealthy people live than in the rest of the new federal states.

There is no shortage of cars anywhere

"In some respects Germany is still a divided country," says Andreas Knie. The political scientist is the managing director of the Innovation Center for Mobility and Social Change in Berlin; he recognizes a “post-materialistic value structure” in the West, of which the convertible, a car that is not only needed for locomotion, is an important example.

After 17 years, the "racing cardboard" is ready

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-cars

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Take a 25-ton chunk of sandstone and a good deal of stamina: From 1997, for 17 years, the master stone sculptor and restaur…ator Carlo Wloch worked on his Trabant 601. The stone sculpture was finished just in time for the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago.

Source: dpa

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-kraftfahrt-bundesamtes

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The sculptor created the object in his workshop in Pankow in the original size of the famous GDR car. The nameplate is also reproduced in great detail.

Source: dpa

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-divide

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Because of racing cardboard: While the original with the thermoset body is lightweight, the Stein-Trabi weighs 12.7 tons. For the anniversary, he should attend a public…Lich accessible place on the wall strip – exactly where is not yet certain.

Source: dpa

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-these

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Carlo Wloch put 6000 working hours into the stone Trabant. At first he was helped by trainees. The fine-tuning is due solely to his talent.

Source: dpa

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-divide

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The Trabant P 601 is considered to be the car of the unity. On this historical recording, long Trabi queues formed on November 7, 1989 when entering Bavaria …Border control point Schirnding (Bavaria).

Source: dpa

“We are still a long way from the east. Berlin, Potsdam, Weimar, Leipzig – there are only a few cities that have restructured themselves. Basically, the East is still pre-materialistic. ”However, there is no area without cars. "The entire population can get into the car fleet – and nobody has to get into the back seats," says Knie. The approximately 81 million residents of the Federal Republic of Germany fit comfortably in the driver and front passenger seats of all 43,851,230 currently registered cars. And there is no need in the east, at least statistically speaking.

The VW Golf Germany‘s by far the best-selling car, for example, represents between 6.5 and 10 percent of all registered cars per district nationwide. Although one can determine a slight overweight in the western registration areas, the difference is nowhere near as serious as with convertibles or even luxury brands such as Rolls-Royce or Ferrari.

Wolfsburg special case

The only exception in the Golf Uniform is Wolfsburg with a staggering 42.1 percent share – the people who build the Golf also drive it. This effect also has an impact on the neighboring districts of Gifhorn (15.1 percent) and Helmstedt (15.4 percent).

State cars, beaten by socialism

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-germany

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The current state coach of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is a ZIL of the type 41047.

Source: IMAGO / Hoffmann

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-these

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Dmiti Medvedev (r.) Also reflects on automotive patriotism. When he gets a visit from the west, as he was presented here in 2010 by the American Arnold Schwarzenegger…a chaika.

Source: AFP / Getty Images

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-divide

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Erich Honecker’s former state car from the west, on the other hand, is not quite as popular: a Citroen CX 25.

Source: action press

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-divide

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But the former head of state and party leader of the GDR also had a ZIL in his fleet.

Source: Getty Images

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-divide

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The bus with which Nikita Khrustschow once toured Austria on a state visit can now be rented for excursions in Zell am See.

Source: Peter Zangerl

Kraftfahrt-Bundesamtes: These cars still divide Germany into east and west-these

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The winner of the “Car for President” design competition: a limousine based on the model designed by Jaroslaw Jakowlew (Russia) and Bernd Weel (Netherlands) could soon be Putin’s Z.…Replace IL.

Source: cardesign.ru

In general, however, the prosperity gap between West and East can also be traced back to the spread of car brands. In particular, manufacturers who offer their cars at low prices are relatively more successful in the eastern registration districts than in the western ones.

This effect is most significant at the VW subsidiary Skoda and the Japanese brands Honda and Mitsubishi. Nissan and Suzuki also have their strongest market shares in eastern rather than western districts, but the ratio is already more similar here. The same applies to the Kia and Chevrolet brands, as well as to the Renault Group and its Romanian subsidiary brand Dacia.

Since the KBA data available does not represent the current new registrations, but rather the number of cars in Germany, which is surveyed once a year, the figures show the long-term economic development of the united country. In the early 1990s, the Asian brands in particular sought their salvation in the East by offering new cars at lower prices than the German competition. Renault’s strong commitment in the new federal states is also still in the data.

Look, I don’t need any more car

If you compare the figures of the Renault subsidiary Dacia with those of the Volkswagen brand Skoda, interesting details are also hidden here. According to the prejudice about the poorer eastern countries, there should actually be a Dacia border analogous to the convertible ditch. After all, no brand sells their cars cheaper.

But Dacia has only been on the market since 2004, and between 1990 and 2004 there was an economic and a social development: Average incomes in the east have grown, which is why the number of registrations of particularly cheap cars fell. And especially in the west, many Dacia buyers are making a statement with their decision: Look, I just don’t need any more car.

In the case of Skoda, the greater spread in the east is due to the brand’s level of awareness: Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Czech manufacturer was still relatively unknown in the west, even though Volkswagen took over command as early as 1991.

In the east, on the other hand, Skoda was a sought-after alternative to the Wartburg and Trabant, and the small car Felicia, presented in 1994 under VW management, found many buyers, especially between the Elbe and Oder. Even if the car has not been offered since 2001 and many copies have since gone the way of everything earthly, the east-west difference can still be read very clearly from the KBA figures. In the Stendal district, for example, 0.41 percent of all registered cars are called Skoda Felicia – in Rosenheim, on the other hand, it is 0.008 percent, i.e. around 50 times less.

Statistics like a shifting dune

Today Skoda has long since embarked on a different path. The VW budget brand is still functioning, but it has left all other import brands behind and, with the current Octavia, is even the only non-German car in the top ten new registrations this year. This success is by no means only based in the eastern countries, and it is the distribution of Skoda models will shift significantly towards the west in the next ten years.

In view of the many millions of cars registered in Germany and their long lifespan, some statistics change with the speed of a shifting dune. The fact that there is still movement can be seen in the numbers on the easternmost of all eastern cars. The Trabant stock is slowly but steadily decreasing; 32,711 units are still registered in Germany today. With a share of 0.075 percent nationwide, the former GDR Volksmobil is only a footnote. And because it has not been built for a long time, the KBA was unable to break down the Trabi share by district. It is likely that there are more specimens in the east. What is certain is that this car will be forgotten all over Germany.

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