Lexus will launch a C segment SUV in 2018
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Lexus will launch a C segment SUV in 2018
- The Toyota CHR, C segment SUV with hybrid engine (engine identical to that of the Prius IV), was launched in September 2016 in Europe. This new model, manufactured in Turkey, allowed the Japanese manufacturer to extend its European SUV range downwards, while the latter was composed of RAV4 (segment D) and Land Cruiser (segment E).
- The CHR sales are booming in Europe (already 30,000 sales in Europe in the first three months of 2017, at an annual rate of 120,000 units). Continuing its policy of extending its line-up, Toyota will launch a C segment SUV for its Premium brand Lexus.
- The European range of Lexus SUVs currently consists of the NX (D segment) and the RX (E segment) models. The future model, to be launched in 2018 and whose commercial name will be UX, will include the Toyota CHR platform and its hybrid engine. Most of the Lexus models sold in Europe are hybrid versions.
- The new UX model will take over the Lexus CT sedan at the end of its career (launch in 2010), which has not been very successful in Europe (7,500 sales in 2016 compared to 9,500 in 2015). The UX model will compete directly with the C segment Premium SUVs, such as the Infiniti QX30, Mercedes GLA, Q3 / Q4, BMW X1 / X2 and Volvo XC40.
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Iran is once again a crucial market for PSA
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Iran is once again a crucial market for PSA
- The PSA group has re-started its official production in Iran in 2016 (after a forced break in 2012): 233,000 cars (Peugeot 206 and 405 destined for the local market) were built last year in Tehran, in the Iran Khodro factory, the leading Iranian manufacturer.
- The Peugeot 206 and 405 currently being manufactured will be gradually replaced on the assembly lines of Iran Khodro by the more recent Peugeot 208 and 301, and soon after the 2008 SUV.
- The increase in production volume will thus be faster than PSA had planned, as it is expected that 340,000 units will be produced in 2017, 350,000 in 2018, 360,000 in 2019 and 370,000 in 2020. Figures do not include the local production of Citroën which should total 50,000 units in 2018, 100,000 in 2019 and 150,000 in 2020.
- Overall, according to Inovev, the PSA group is expected to manufacture 340,000 cars in Iran by 2017, 400,000 by 2018, 460,000 by 2019 and 520,000 by 2020, which is more than 10 percent of the group's global output.
- These forecasts may nevertheless become less ambitious in the event that the Iranian market is held back by a possible renewal of tension between the US and Iran.
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BYD will build an assembly plant in France
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BYD will build an assembly plant in France
- The Chinese manufacturer BYD (21st manufacturer worldwide) has become one of the leading manufacturers of electric buses in the World, in only a few years. Its production of electric buses in China has thus increased from 5,375 units in 2015 to 13,278 units in 2016, destined for the local market.
- After supplying China from its Changsha plant (calibrated to produce up to 50,000 buses per year), BYD has established electric bus plants in several foreign countries: the USA, Hungary and Brazil. In the USA, its bus production increased from 200 to 400 annual units. Production in Hungary is expected to start in 2017. As for Brazil, the agreement between BYD and the Brazilian authorities has not yet been validated. Finally, BYD has announced the installation of a new electric bus plant, this time in France, in the commune of Allonne (Hauts de France region). The plant is expected to start operating in the first half of 2018.
- BYD announces its intention to initially produce 200 vehicles per year in its French plant, which could be doubled in the long term. According to BYD, the choice of France is explained by the fact that the French bus market is the largest in Europe. The models manufactured will be those already known in the United States, under the name K9, whose origins go back to 2010. This model of 18 tons is endowed with a autonomy of 250km. BYD sold 6,000 K9 buses worldwide in 2016.
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Opel will market 4 SUVs in 2020
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Opel will market 4 SUVs in 2020
Opel has announced that they will market four different SUVs in 2020:
1. The Crossland X (B segment SUV) will be produced as of the summer of 2017 on the Spanish site of Zaragoza. It will share the PF1 platform with with the Citroën C3 Aircross, which will be produced on the same site from autumn 2017.
2. The Grandland X (C segment SUV) will be produced as of spring 2018 on the French site of Sochaux. It will use the EMP2 platform of the Peugeot 308 and 3008 which is produced at Sochaux since the end of 2016. the Opel Antara (of GM origin) will be stopped after the launch of the Grandland X in 2018.
3. The replacement for the Mokka X (B segment SUV ) will be launched in 2019 and will be produced at the plant in Eisenach Germany. It will use the PSA CMP1 platform, like the future Peugeot 208 and 2008.
4. A fourth SUV (the name of which is still unknown) will be launched in 2020. It will be a D-segment SUV that will use the EMP2 platform, also used by the Peugeot 5008, and will be manufactured at Rüsselsheim plant in Germany. The large Opel SUV will be equipped with seven seats, (like the Peugeot 5008). Thus positioned, this SUV will compete with Opel's 7-seater MPV, the Zafira. The arrival of the SUV could mean the end of the commercialization of the Zafira in 2020.
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Ford will launch Ecosport production in Craiova end 2017
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Ford will launch Ecosport production in Craiova end 2017
- To compete with the B segment SUVs sold in Europe, such as the Nissan Juke, Renault Captur, Peugeot 2008 and Opel Mokka, Ford launched the Ecosport model on the continent in 2014. This segment B SUV was already sold in Latin America since 2012. For European demand, Ecosport was not sourced from Latin America, but from India (from the factory located in Chennai which produces Ford models for the local market) . From autumn 2017, Ecosports sold in Europe will only be manufactured in Ford's Romanian factory in Craiova (230km west of Bucharest).
- The Ecosport will benefit from a restyling that will harmonize the style of the Ecosport front bumper grille with Ford’s other European SUVs, Kuga (segment C) and Edge (segment D). The restyled Ecosport (see photo) will be on display at the next Frankfurt Motor Show.
- The Ford plant in Craiova has been producing a single model since 2012: the B-Max, a B segment minivan, whose sales decreased from 66,000 units in 2013 to 37,000 units in 2016,a difficult situation, given the site's 100 000 units per year capacity. Ecosport production will saturate Craiova ‘s capacity at the end of 2017, as sales of B-Max and Ecosport models totaled nearly 94,000 units in 2016 and the 100,000 units should be reached in 2017. The site will possibly focus in future on the production of Ecosport alone.
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