Car Sales Slide in Germany

Registration of new cars in Germany dropped to 192,100 vehicles last month from 210,200 units in January 2012, industry group VDA reports.

Dealers and carmakers continue to discount vehicle prices heavily to bolster sales, according to the University of Duisburg-Essen's Center of Automotive Research. CAR says Germany's auto incentives in January were the largest since the center began tracking the data seven years ago.

VDA says the country's auto production fell 11% to 394,300 vehicles in January.

The VDIK auto importers group predicts Germany's car sales will top 3 million vehicles this year. Demand slid 3% to 3.17 million units in 2012.