Engineering monitor: Restrained attitude in German Engineering Sector

On a scale of 1-6 (based on German school grades), the respondents gave a mean value of 2.4 for the current business situation. The expectations for the year 2012 are rather cautiously estimated. After a substantial jump in sales averaging 18% in 2011, the engineering sector expects a lower growth of approximately 9.5% this year. About 75% of the respondents expect an economic slow down whereby the debt crisis is mainly seen as the cause for general uncertainty which, in turn, leads to a reduction in propensity to buy or invest.

In the area of marketing and sales, companies of the German engineering sector will be focusing clearly on certain issues in the upcoming months. Some of them include

          - increasing customer satisfaction

          - increasing market shares as well as product development.

The companies attach a lot of importance to market cultivation in order to improve business results. Above all, 68% of the respondents intend to increase their entry into new markets while 32% plan to leave the current level of investment unchanged. Furthermore, the acquisition of new customers as well as customer care play a very important role for them.

The next engineering monitor will be carried out in summer 2012.