Sales of electric vehicles rose by 79% in Europe in the first half of 2014

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Sales of electric vehicles rose by 79% in Europe in the first half of 2014

- Sales of electric vehicles rose by 79% in Europe in the first half of 2014. From 14 982 units in the first half of 2013 to 26 819 units in the first half of 2014.

- However, this strong growth conceals two facts: firstly, all countries do not benefit from such strong growth (sales in France actually decreased by 8.8%), on the other hand, the overall market share of electric vehicles is very low, not exceeding 0.42% in the first half of 2014 (against 0.25% in the first half of 2013), i.e. 4 sales out of 1 000. This is far from the 10% target set for 2020 announced by some manufacturers a few years back.

- The only European country where electric vehicle sales reached or exceed 10% of the market in 2014 is Norway with an excellent 12.9%. The following four countries : France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark EV sales account for only 0.5% to 0.6% of total sales. All other countries do not even reach 0.5% (Germany reaching 0.3%).

- It should be noted that four countries account for 78.5% of sales of electric vehicles in Europe: Norway (9 349 units), Germany (4 796 units), France (4 360 units) and the UK (2 558 units). And four models account for 77% of sales of electric vehicles in Europe: the Nissan Leaf (6 880 units), the Tesla Model S (5 347 units), the BMW i3 (4 853 units) and the Renault Zoe (3 594 units), which is still very far from its objectives.

14-28-10  


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Renault unveils the new Espace

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Renault unveils the new Espace

- Renault has unveiled the fifth generation of its large MPV (segment D) marketed  for over thirty years under the name : Espace. The new Espace designed to be a crossover and blends together two body types; a minivan and an SUV. It is 4.80 m long and is based on the CMF platform (currently used on the Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail), it is currently available in only one wheelbase.


- The share of MPVs from segment D has been falling for several years, reaching only 1% of the European market in 2014. Customers have gradually turned towards MPVs of segment C (7% market share in 2014) and SUVs from segment D (3% market share in 2014).


- PSA has just given up its Peugeot 807 and Citroen will not be replacing the C8. Fiat and Opel have already discontinued theirs for several years now. Japanese and Korean brands no longer import their large MPVs.


- As for the Chrysler Voyager, now sold under the Lancia brand, it has practically disappeared from the European market. The only MPVs that remain are the Volkswagen Sharan, Seat Alhambra, Ford Galaxy / S-Max and the Renault Espace whose sales figures have become very low(8 000 units sold in 2013).


- Renault has not released its sales targets, but Inovev forecasts 35 000 units will be produced each year in the Douai plant for the European market (excluding UK).


14-29-1  


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Belgian production Forecast for 2015 (PC + LUV)

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Belgian production Forecast for 2015 (PC + LUV)

- Belgian automotive production has lost half its volume in nine years, from 900 000 vehicles in 2005 to 440 000 in 2014. The reason for the decline was due to two main factors: first, the decline in the European market of nearly 25% between 2007 and 2013 which consequently affected Belgian production, like most of the producing countries in Europe. On the other hand, the transfer of production from local plants to other foreign plants, which resulted in two plant closures in recent years, the GM plant of Antwerp late 2010 and the Ford plant of Genk late 2014.


- Belgian production is expected to end the year at -9% in 2014 compared to 2013 In 2015, Belgian production is expected to reach nearly 410 000 units (-7% compared to 2014). Five different models will be manufactured at two plants (against seven in 2014): the Audi A1 and Q1 in Brussels and the Volvo XC60, S60 and V40 in Ghent. In 2015, only two carmakers will remain in Belgium: Audi in the Forest plant (Brussels) and Volvo in Ghent. They currently have no intention of leaving Belgium because these manufacturers use all their capacity and therefore do not suffer from overcapacity, unlike most mainstream manufacturers in Europe who underuse their plants.


- Audi and Volvo are indeed Premium manufacturers, a market segment that is growing around the world, while the number of premium brands hasn't increased accordingly, which is boosting the sales volume of both carmakers.


14-28-7  


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Nissan and Dongfeng are going to produce Infiniti cars in China in 2016

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Nissan and Dongfeng are going to produce Infiniti cars in China in 2016

- China is expected to become the largest market for premium cars from 2016, with 2.3 million units sold in this segment (against 2.2 million units planned in the American market, thats is currently the world's largest market of premium vehicles). Until now, the Toyota and Renault-Nissan groups were not producing their premium Lexus and Infiniti brands in this country. Only the German Audi, BMW and Mercedes brands, as well as the American brand Cadillac and the  Swedish brand Volvo currently produce high end models in China. In this specific market, Chinese carmaker's Premium models (excluding JV) are still very confidential.


- Infiniti has decided to produce high-end cars in China (in partnership with Dongfeng) for the local market as of 2016. The objective of the brand is to produce and sell 100 000 cars a year, against 35 000 today, all of which are imported from Japan (Q50 / Q60 / Q70 / QX50 / QX60 / QX70 / QX80 models). In addition to the vehicles already imported the ESQ and Q30 models could be produced in the existing Dongfeng-Nissan plant located in Xiangyang (Hubei), which has a capacity of 250 000 vehicles per year and produces the sedan Sylphy / New Sylphy and Teana.


- By 2020, more than 3 million premium cars should be sold in China, against 2.3 million in the United States out of a total 10 million units worldwide. Infiniti aims 500 000 global sales by 2020.


14-28-9  


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Polish production Forecast for 2015 (PC + LUV)

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Polish production Forecast for 2015 (PC + LUV)

- Polish car production rose steadily until 2009-2011, passing for the first time the production threshold of 1 million vehicles a year. Since then,  production volume has been reduced by half. And this for several reasons: first, the decline of the European market as a whole, which was even more important in Eastern Europe (-35% decrease over this period), a main area for Polish production. Then, the production transfer of some models to other foreign plants such as the Fiat Panda (200 000 to 300 000 units before 2012) that was transferred to Italy in 2012 or the Opel Zafira (100 000 units in 2011) that was transferred to Germany in 2011 was not offset by the arrival of the Lancia Ypsilon (70 000 annual units ) and the Opel Cascada (10 000 annual units ).

- The overall loss would represent between 220 000 and 320 000 vehicles per year, plus the end of activity of the Autozaz plant in Zeran (Warsaw) which equalled 100 000 vehicles produced each year. The project to manufacture the Chevrolet on this site was abandoned since GM decided to discontinue the Chevrolet brand in Europe. In addition, Poland has lost many relocations in recent years to the benefit of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. For the year 2014, the Polish production should be relatively stable (up 3% compared to 2013). In 2015, no new models are planned to arrive in the Fiat plant (Tichy), Opel (Gliwice) and VW (Poznan). However, the expected sales increase of locally produced models in Poland could allow a growth of around 12%, reaching a volume of 600 000 units.

14-28-8  


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  1. Polish market forecast in 2015 (PC + LUV)
  2. Dutch market forecast in 2015 (PC + LUV)
  3. Ford unveils the new S-Max
  4. Belgian market forecast in 2015 (PC + LCV)
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