Their latest finding shows that German engineering companies' order books took yet another sharp tumble in November, falling by 13% year-on-year. That sees a return to a double-digit fall after October's 5% decline. In the period from September to November, orders were down by 12% year-on-year with the split showing domestic orders falling by 17% and foreign orders declining by 11%.

VDMA comments that "there is still no sign of this downturn bottoming out, as our customers worldwide would first have to regain confidence in foreseeable growth and stable political processes".