Foreign demand for German cars was the mainstay of German car-makers in the past year. On Monday the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) announced in Frankfurt that the German car industry exported 3.62 million vehicles in 2002, missing the export record of 2001 by a mere percent. The VDA said in a statement that the robust demand for German cars abroad reinvigorated car production in Germany in 2002 with 5.1 million cars rolling off the production lines.