German car sector in the crosshairs

The Germany economy barely escaped a technical recession at the end of last year. In particular the car sector is struggling , as it has to cope with several different headwinds at the same time. While some of the challenges are more struct ural in nature , others, such as a hard Brexit and US tariffs , pose an immediate cyclical risk for the industry. Given the relative importance of the sector for the German economy , a materialization of these risk s would push the economy into recession. The adverse impact would extend beyond Germany, as the German car sector imports intermediate products of around €100 billion from other countries.