new car sales in germany rose strongly again in may as supply chain problems eased official figures showed monday but analysts warned the weakening economy may weigh on the sector a total of 246966 new cars were registered in europes top economy last month up 192 percent on a year earlier according to the kba federal transport authority this followed a rise of 126 percent in april and a 166 percent improvement in march the new car market continues to improve the upswing is robust said ey analyst peter fuss but demand for plugin hybrids fell by 405 percent the latest sign that motorists are turning their backs on the models as a semiconductor shortage that had impacted production continues to ease manufacturers will be able to ramp up production further to meet demand said fuss while the upward trend would likely continue for the time being a weak economic picture coupled with high inflation could lead to a slowdown he said germanys economy fell into recession around the turn of the year as consumer prices surged and after the european central bank implemented a series of interest rate hikes fuss also noted that sales were still well below the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic