The Volkswagen group remains the second largest carmaker in the world in 2022
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The Volkswagen group remains the second largest carmaker in the world in 2022
- The Volkswagen group (Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Cupra, Bentley, Lamborghini, Traton) has published its sales figures for the year 2022. The German carmaker remains the second largest carmaker in the world behind Toyota, but loses 450,000 vehicles compared to 2021, which represents a drop of 7% while the Toyota group is practically stable (-0.1%). The Volkswagen group therefore sold 8.3 million vehicles in 2022, while its Japanese competitor sold 10.5 million.
- We can argue that the problems of logistics and supply have impacted the German carmaker, but we can also think that the strategy of electrification and their models has also caused it to lose a good number of customers not yet ready for this type of engine.
- At Toyota, we do not perceive this problem at all due to electrification as the Japanese have not yet really committed to it.
- The Volkswagen group sold 561,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) last year compared to 431,000 in 2021 and 228,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) compared to 278,000 in 2021, i.e. 789,000 electrified vehicles, representing nearly 10% of its worldwide sales, to which can be added 260,000 mild-hybrids (MHEVs).
- The group's best-selling BEV model is the VW ID4, which totals 170,000 sales, ahead of the VW ID3 (79,000 units), VW Up (54,000 units), Skoda Enyaq (52,000 units), Audi E-tron (48 000 units), Audi Q4 (42,000 units), VW ID6 (38,000 units), Cupra Born (32,000 units), VW ID5 (24,000 units), Audi E-tron GT (9,000 units) and VW ID Buzz (4,000 units).
- The group's best-selling PHEV model is the Cupra Formentor (25,000 units), ahead of the Audi Q3 (21,000 units), VW Tiguan (20,000 units), Audi A3 (18,000 units) and VW Passat (16,000 units).
Renault and Nissan redefine their Alliance amid falling sales
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Renault and Nissan redefine their Alliance amid falling sales
- Renault and Nissan, the main partners of the Renault-Nissan group, have decided to redefine their alliance, in particular by rebalancing their capital ties. Until now, Renault held 43% of Nissan while Nissan held only 15% of Renault. The two automotive groups will now be on an equal footing regarding capital ties, the French carmaker and its Japanese partner having agreed to reduce Renault's stake in Nissan to 15%.
- This agreement comes at a time when the Renault-Nissan group has fallen from third place in the world in 2021 to fourth in 2022, due to a drop in global sales of Nissan (-20.7%) and a fall in Renault sales (-23.9%) mainly due to the sale of Renault Russia and Avtovaz. It should be noted that on the scope of the Renault group without Russia, Renault sales fell only by 5.9%.
- Nissan sold 3,225,500 vehicles in 2022, Renault 2,051,000 and Mitsubishi 873,500, i.e. a total of 6,150,000 vehicles for the group as a whole, while it exceeded 10 million sales per year in 2017, in 2018 and 2019, and another 8 million sales per year in 2020 and 2021.
- The sales decline of the Renault-Nissan group has been strong since 2019, and we can compare this situation to GM and Ford which had started a few years earlier. Admittedly, the Renault-Nissan group had indicated some time ago that profits would now come before volumes, but we note that the group's sales in 2022 represent 80% of those of 2020 and 60% of those of 2018. The question today is to know if the future new organization of the alliance will make it possible to relaunch the group's sales and to optimize exchanges between the two entities.
The Toyota Yaris Cross is the most produced car in France in 2022
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The Toyota Yaris Cross is the most produced car in France in 2022
- The Toyota Yaris Cross becomes the most produced car in France in 2022, ahead of the Peugeot 3008 by only 2,342 units. The "crossover" version of the Yaris launched in 2021 recorded a volume of 161,508 units produced on French soil in 2022, compared to 159,166 units for the Peugeot 3008 and 107,405 units for the new generation of the Peugeot 308.
- The Toyota Yaris (sedan) on its side is now mainly produced on the Czech site of Kolin belonging to the Japanese carmaker. Nevertheless, part of the production of the sedan is still made on the Onnaing site. The distribution of production between the two sites is decided according to the trims and the destination markets. In any case, the Onnaing plant does not have enough production capacity to produce both the Yaris and the Yaris Cross in full. Moreover, with the end of production last year of the Citroën C1 and Peugeot 108 at Toyota's Kolin site (vehicles based on the same design as the Toyota Aygo), more than half of the production capacity of the Czech site was available. Today, therefore, the Czech site produces both the Toyota Yaris sedan and the Toyota Aygo, which has become Aygo X since its renewal last year.
- As a result, the production volume in France of the Toyota Yaris sedan in 2022 is lower than that of the Opel Mokka produced at the French site of Poissy. The Opel Mokka could actually enter the top 3 of vehicles produced in France next year.
- We can note the absence of Renault models in this list, but the carmaker's high-volume models are all produced outside France: Clio in Turkey and Slovenia, Captur and Mégane in Spain, Twingo in Slovenia, Arkana in South Korea South.
The VW Golf remains the most produced vehicle in Germany in 2022
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The VW Golf remains the most produced vehicle in Germany in 2022
- The Volkswagen Golf (C-segment sedan) remained the most produced car in Germany between 2007 and 2022, but its production volume plummeted from 2015, falling from 770,000 units that year to 510,000 in 2019, 300,000 in 2020 and 200,000 in 2021. In 2022, the Golf progresses slightly to 220,000 units, but it is followed closely by the Volkswagen Tiguan (197,000 units) which is in a way the SUV version of the Golf. But the Tiguan (C-segment SUV) also saw its production volume declined since 2017, the year in which 300,000 units were manufactured in Germany.
- Why this drop in production of the Golf? A large part of its clientele has turned to the brand's SUVs (such as the Tiguan and especially the T-Roc produced in Portugal) as well as to other brands. The ID3, ID4 and ID5 electric cars also took customers from the Golf, but only from 2020. And these models only totalised 165,000 units in 2022, too few to explain the Golf's fall for several years.
- In third position in German automobile production, the BMW 3 Series (D-segment sedan) remained among the three most produced cars in Germany for a long time. But the Series 4 has gradually taken a good part of its clientele. From 500,000 units produced in 2007, the 3 Series has gradually fallen to 385,000 units in 2013 and 185,000 in 2022.
- In fourth and fifth position are the Mercedes GLC (D-segment SUV) and Mercedes C-Class (D-segment sedan) which totalise 142,000 units and 120,000 units respectively in 2022. The C-Class has fallen significantly since 2007 when it was produced at 300,000 units. The overall balance of German production shows a drop in traditional sedans. It should be added that the Premium sedans destined for China have gradually shifted from exports from Germany to Chinese local production.
The European passenger car market (29 countries) fell by 4% in 2022 compared to 2021
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The European passenger car market (29 countries) fell by 4% in 2022 compared to 2021
- The European market (European Union + Great Britain + Switzerland + Norway) of passenger cars fell by 4% in 2022 compared to 2021, whereas it had already fallen by 1.5% in 2021 compared to 2020 and by 24.3% in 2020 compared to 2019. In 2022, 11,287,005 passenger cars were sold in 2022 in this region, compared to 11,775,357 units in 2021 and 15,793,245 units in 2019 which had marked a peak of registrations after the 2008-2009 crisis.
- The figures for 2022 fall back to the level of the European market of 1993. After the sharp drop in the market in 2020, due to the health crisis, there is no start to catch up either in 2021 or in 2022.
- Carmakers highlighted supply difficulties, due to the semiconductor crisis and then to the consequences of the war in Ukraine. These are indeed factors to be taken into account, but this is part of a European context where demand for new vehicles is pending. In other words, private customers and, in some cases, professional customers do not wish to renew their vehicles for various reasons (uncertain economic context, vagueness about the end of thermal vehicles, etc.).
- In addition, some mainstream carmakers have clearly chosen to put priority on vehicles with higher margins, even if it means selling fewer of them. This is reflected in particular by the end of sales of A-segment cars and by the orientation of customers towards the most expensive models. The current switch to 100% electric also plays a key role in increasingly expensive cars. The most typical case is Ford Europe, which will reduce the production volume of the Fiesta and Focus to zero to forward its production towards a 100% electric range. The consequence of this policy is a difficulty for some customers to renew their vehicle which they will have to keep longer, unless the price of electric cars drops drastically.
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