Car Sales Rise 4% in Germany

New-car registrations in Germany reached 275,00 units in October, up 4% from the same period in 2013, according to industry group VDA.

Exports rose 3% to 198,600 units last month. Sales through the first nine months of the year totaled 2.56 million units compared with 2.48 million a year earlier.

But analysts tell Reuters October's increase is due entirely to a hike in purchases by businesses. They caution that retail deliveries to individual buyers in Germany continue to slip.