text: German July car registrations up 14.2 pct yr / yr . FRANKFURT 1996-08-22 German first-time registrations of motor vehicles jumped 14.2 percent in July this year from the year-earlier period , the Federal office for motor vehicles said on Thursday . The office said 356,725 new cars were registered in July 1996 -- 304,850 passenger cars and 15,613 trucks . The figures represent a 13.6 percent increase for passenger cars and a 2.2 percent decline for trucks from July 1995 . Motor-bike registration rose 32.7 percent in the period . The growth was partly due to an increased number of Germans buying German cars abroad , while manufacturers said that domestic demand was weak , the federal office said . Almost all German car manufacturers posted gains in registration numbers in the period . Volkswagen AG won 77,719 registrations , slightly more than a quarter of the total . Opel AG together with General Motors came in second place with 49,269 registrations , 16.4 percent of the overall figure . Third was Ford with 35,563 registrations , or 11.7 percent . Only Seat and Porsche had fewer registrations in July 1996 compared to last year 's July . Seat posted 3,420 registrations compared with 5522 registrations in July a year earlier . Porsche 's registrations fell to 554 from 643 .