Inovev forecasts 200,000 units of the new Audi Q3 SUV per year
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Inovev forecasts 200,000 units of the new Audi Q3 SUV per year
- The Audi Q3 C-segment SUV was born in 2011 after the launch in 2005 of the Audi E-segment SUV, the Audi Q7, and then the Audi D-segment SUV, the Audi Q5 in 2008. The Q3 has always been among the brand's best-selling SUVs, but always behind the Audi Q5, which sold better in China and North America. The Audi Q3 was first produced in Spain, then in China and finally in Hungary. In 2024, the Audi Q3 was produced in 167,107 units, including 128,379 in Hungary and 36,122 in China, volumes in decline compared to 2023 and 2022, which prompted the carmaker to launch a new generation of the Q3 in 2025. It is noted that this replacement was faster than that of the Audi Q2 B-segment SUV which dates from 2016 and which has still not been replaced.
- The new Audi Q3 is first presented in an estate version but will also be offered in a "Sportback" version in a few months. The new Q3, which competes with the BMW X1/X2, as well as the Mercedes GLA/GLB and Volvo XC40, will be offered with 1.5 (148 hp ) and 2.0 (200 hp and 263 hp) petrol engines, 2.0 (148 hp) diesel and plug-in hybrid (268 hp) based on the 1.5, but no battery electric version is planned. This will still be reserved for the Audi Q4 in the same segment. It should be noted that this lack of electric motorization will remain a handicap for the Chinese market.
- The new Q3 is based on the VW Group's MQB platform, also used by the Volkswagen Tiguan and Tayron, among others. While it looks similar to other Audi SUVs, the Q3 actually shares most of its bodywork, including the doors, with the Cupra Terramar, unveiled a year ago.
- The Q3 will be produced in Gyor, Hungary (alongside the Cupra Terramar) at 140,000 units per year and in Changchun, China (at FAW) at 60,000 units per year, or 200,000 units per year in total.
Inovev forecasts 35,000 units per year of the new Nissan Leaf
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Inovev forecasts 35,000 units per year of the new Nissan Leaf
- The Nissan Leaf (C-segment sedan) was one of the first mass-produced battery electric vehicle, starting in 2010, two years before the Renault Zoé. It was initially launched in Japan. Unfortunately, the Japanese market was not very demanding for this type of vehicle, so the Leaf did not exceed 27,500 units produced per year during the first two years. At the time, it was only produced and sold in Japan. Nissan then decided to export it from Japan and then partially relocate it by producing it in Europe and the United States from 2012.
- As the American market was not in great demand for battery electric vehicle either, the production volume of this model never exceeded 32,500 units per year and declined from 2015 to an average of 10,000/12,000 units per year.
- It is still Europe the first market for the Leaf, driven by the European Commission's directive requiring carmakers to sell only battery electric vehicles by 2035.
- The British plant in Sunderland, which produces it, managed to produce 329,000 units (cumulative total) between 2012 and 2024 (compared to 202,000 in the USA and 193,000 in Japan). The model that was discontinued in 2024 has just been replaced by a brand new generation derived from the Nissan Ariya SUV (also a battery electric model, larger than the Leaf) which has not been very successful. The new Leaf is however shorter than the Ariya, since it measures 4.35 m in length instead of 4.60 m, and shorter than the old Leaf (4.49 m). It is equipped with a 214 hp (157 kW ) electric motor associated with a 75 kWh NMC battery allowing a range of 600 km or a smaller 52 kWh NMC battery allowing a range of 434 km. Inovev forecasts 35,000 units of the new Nissan Leaf per year in Sunderland.
The Toyota Aygo X, currently thermal, becomes full-hybrid (F-HEV)
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The Toyota Aygo X, currently thermal, becomes full-hybrid (F-HEV)
- By 2025, the world's leading carmaker, Toyota, still does not have a comprehensive range of battery electric vehicles.
• Within the Toyota brand, the BZ4X SUV is currently the only Toyota-designed BEV marketed in Europe before the launch of the Toyota CHR+ this fall. The battery electric ProAce , ProAce City, and ProAce Max vans are simply rebranded Stellantis vans. As for the confidential Mirai, it is a fuel cell sedan.
• Within the Lexus brand, only the UX and RZ SUVs (Lexus version of the Toyota BZ4X) are battery electric.
- The Toyota group has been focusing on full-hybrid (gasoline-electric) engines since the end of the 1990s . First introduced in the Prius, this type of alternative engine has been widely used on most models of the Toyota and Lexus brands.
- Aygo A-segment model had escaped this generalization of full-hybrid motorization.
- Toyota is now correcting this oversight. With the mid-life facelift of the Aygo X, launched in 2022 (in fact the third generation of the Aygo), Toyota is giving this model the full-hybrid powertrain it lacked and which replaces the thermal version. The model was equipped since the first generation with a 1.0 liter petrol engine. From 2025, the Aygo X abandons this engine to acquire the 1.5 liter full-hybrid engine of the Yaris, which required redesigning and lengthening the hood of the Aygo X by 7 cm, bringing the total length of the model to 3.77 m. The power of the Aygo X increases from 72 hp to 116 hp , which makes the model much more dynamic, but also more expensive. Inovev expects 120,000 units per year of the new Toyota Aygo X full-hybrid.
With the end of the 508, the Peugeot mid-size sedan category (D segment) disappears
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With the end of the 508, the Peugeot mid-size sedan category (D segment) disappears
- Peugeot has permanently ceased production of the second-generation 508, which was launched in 2018. These D-segment models were the heirs of the first-generation Peugeot 508 (2010-2018), which in turn were descendants of the Peugeot 407 (2004-2011), Peugeot 406 (1995-2004), and Peugeot 405 (1987-1995). We can go back even further with the Peugeot 404 (1960-1975) and Peugeot 403 (1955-1966).
- This family of medium-sized D-segment sedans was very important in the Peugeot brand's conquest strategy, which notably enabled it to acquire Citroën in 1974 and then Chrysler Europe in 1978. This family of vehicles was in fact produced in total at 8.5 million units between 1955 and 2025, but it does not seem that the 508 will be replaced soon.
- Indeed, this category of vehicles has continued to lose influence since the Peugeot 405. While the latter managed to outperform the Peugeot 404 (2.0 million units produced), the 405 having sold 2.3 million units (not including models produced in Iran for the local market), the following models have continued to decline. The Peugeot 406 sold 1.65 million units, the Peugeot 407 900 000 units, the Peugeot 508-1 550 000 units and finally the Peugeot 508-2 200 000 units. It is not the slight move upmarket of this family over the years that has caused such a sharp drop in sales of these successive models, but the shift of the brand's customers towards competing sedans, towards more compact Peugeot models (307-308) and especially towards SUVs from Peugeot (3008-5008) or other brands.
GM may transfer the production of two of its key models from Mexico to the US
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GM may transfer the production of two of its key models from Mexico to the US
- To address the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on automobile imports (the level of which is still unclear at the time of publication of this analysis, July 31, 2025), whether from far away (Europe, China, Japan, Korea) or near (Canada, Mexico), the GM group has announced that it plans to transfer the production of two of its major models from Mexico to the USA by 2027.
- These are the Chevrolet Equinox (295,683 units produced in Mexico in 2024, including 61,002 fully electric versions) and the Chevrolet Blazer (82,120 units produced in Mexico in 2024, including 32,931 fully electric), which makes 377,803 vehicles that will move from the Mexican plant in Ramos Arizpe to a US plant whose name is not yet known. Only the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck would continue to be produced at the Mexican site in Ramos Arizpe (191,292 units made in 2024).
- This site would no longer produce 600,000 vehicles per year, but would have to be reduced with a production of 200,000 vehicles per year. For the USA, this would be a good deal, as the GM group would produced 400,000 more vehicles there each year, or 2.2 million vehicles instead of 1.8 million if we take 2024 as a reference year. At the same time, GM would no longer produce 800,000 vehicles in Mexico each year, but 400,000.
- On the other hand, still in line with the Trump administration, the GM group is expected to slow its investments in battery electric vehicles and restart production of thermal models. It is noted that the share of BEVs on the US market continues to decline in 2025: it fell from 8.7% in January 2025 to 7.6% in February 2025, 7.5% in March 2025 and 6.7% in April 2025, compared to 8.0% for the whole of 2024.
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