US government wants to limit imports and encourage local production
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US government wants to limit imports and encourage local production
- Over the months, the core of US governmental policy is emerging: it follows the principles of local employment and priority to the domestic US auto industry. Today, the government's actions are therefore based on the objective of producing more cars in the United States and limiting imports from Asia (Japan, Korea in particular) and Europe (mainly Germany), but also from their historical partners of the NAFTA zone (Canada, Mexico).
- In 2017, the US produced 11.3 million vehicles on their territory, while the US market accounted for 17.3 million units of which 8.3 million were imported and 9 million produced on site.
- The goal of the US government is to transfer some of the 8.3 million imported vehicles to production on US soil. In 2017, the countries that exported the most vehicles to the US were Mexico (2.4 million units), Canada (1.8 million units), Japan (1.7 million units), South Korea (0.9 million units) and Germany (0.6 million units). For Mexico and Canada, it is mostly GM, Ford and Fiat-Chrysler, while for Japan it is most of the Japanese brands and for Korea the Hyundai-Kia group. The problem is that most factories operating in the US are currently operating at the limit of their capabilities. So current US plants should be expanded or new plants built to produce 2 or 3 million additional vehicles.
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The FCA Group wants to recover its sales leader position in Latin America
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The FCA Group wants to recover its sales leader position in Latin America
- The FCA Group wants to become again the sales leader in Latin America (South America and Central America), as in the 90s. Today, FCA is overtaken by General-Motors which enjoys a privileged position in Brazil and Renault- Nissan enjoys a privileged position in Mexico.
- The Volkswagen group, which between 2006 and 2013 became the sales leader in this region, thanks to both its strong positions in Brazil and Mexico, lost market share and fell back to fourth place after 2013, behind General Motors, Renault-Nissan and Fiat-Chrysler (FCA).
- The FCA group intends to launch 15 new models under the Fiat brand and 10 new models under the Jeep brand, by 2022.,in order to regain sales leadership in this region.
- The Italian-American manufacturer produced 1.2 million vehicles in Latin America in 2017, compared with 0.9 million in 2016 (thanks to the ramp up of the Jeep Compass ). Its production capacity in the region is 1.25 million vehicles per year. If the FCA Group wants to overtake General Motors and Renault-Nissan in this region, it will have to increase its production capacity, perhaps to 1.5 million vehicles per year.
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Great Wall will launch the first model of its new brand Ora
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Great Wall will launch the first model of its new brand Ora
- The Chinese manufacturer Great Wall has just created its new brand dedicated to 100% electric cars. This brand called Ora will launch its first model in the third quarter of 2018. It should be called IQ, as the small Toyota marketed between 2008 and 2016. It would be a compact 100% electric SUV.
- Remember that the Great Wall Group has gradually become one of the largest SUV specialists in China thanks to its brand Haval. According to the manufacturer, the Ora IQ would display a range of 360km thanks to a battery pack provided by the Chinese group Contemporary Amperex Technology.
- Currently, Great Wall markets only two electrified models, namely the Great Wall C30 100% electric sedan and the Wey P8 rechargeable hybrid SUV. These models are not widely distributed because they did not exceed 1,000 sales in 2017, while the Chinese government's quotas will require Great Wall to sell 100,000 electrified cars in 2019, given the global production volume of the company.
- Great Wall, which will sell one million thermal engine vehicles in 2018, wants to expand its offer of electrified models to meet the objectives of the Chinese government, and is also in negotiations with the BMW group to produce electric Mini in China.
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BMW could transfer the production of the Oxford Mini to the Born factory
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BMW could transfer the production of the Oxford Mini to the Born factory
- The BMW group said it has decided to increase the production capacity of its Dutch plant in Born from 100,000 vehicles to 200,000 vehicles a year. This increase in capacity in Born allows assembly of part of the BMW X1 ( C segment SUV) on this site. The X1 is indeed produced today entirely on the German site of Leipzig (186 000 units produced in 2017), but the rise in cadences of the BMW X2 could cause the saturation of this site during the next months.
- Recall that the Born site currently manufactures the Mini Countryman (89,000 units produced in 2017) using the same platform (UKL) as the BMW X1 and X2.
- According to Inovev, the increase in production capacity in Born could be followed by a second increase in capacity (to 300,000 vehicles per year, as in the 90s) if the conditions of the Brexit that will take effect in March 2019 forced BMW to transfer the production of the Mini from Oxford's British site (200,000 units produced in 2017) to the Dutch site of Born. Indeed, nearly 90% of the components that BMW uses in its British factories come from suppliers in continental Europe.
- A change in the deliveries of these components due to customs barriers would represent an additional cost.
- In such a scenario, the closure of the Oxford plant is conceivable, which would be a first consequence of Brexit in the automotive field.
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Toyota Camry returns to the European market after 14 years of absence
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Toyota Camry returns to the European market after 14 years of absence
- In order not to completely disappear from the D segment in Europe, in the sedan category at least, Toyota has decided to replace the Avensis, which will be removed this summer from the assembly lines of the British plant Burnaston, by the Camry hybrid that will be imported from Japan.
- The Toyota Camry is one of the best-selling models of the Japanese brand, selling between 500,000 and 700,000 units each year worldwide. In Europe, the Camry never really caught on (and had disappeared from the market in 2005), but makes good sales in Russia where it is produced.
- Its main market remains the United States where it is produced and where it remains the best-selling sedan for several years, but it is also present in China, Japan and even in India.
- In Europe, it will face the Ford Mondeo, Opel Insignia, VW Arteon, Renault Talisman, Peugeot 508 ... and especially the Lexus ES who arrived in Europe this year, replacing the Lexus GS, and sharing the body and engine (hybrid) of the Camry. The Camry will have the advantage of being offered at a lower price than the Lexus, but apart from that it will be very difficult to choose between the two models. Inovev is counting on 7,500 annual sales in Europe of the Toyota Camry Hybrid and 2,500 Lexus ES Hybrid.
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