BYD will build an assembly plant in Turkey
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BYD will build an assembly plant in Turkey
- The Chinese carmaker BYD, the world's second largest carmaker of battery electric vehicles behind Tesla (650,000 units sold over the first 5 months of 2024 compared to 765,000 Tesla) has announced that it will build an assembly factory in Turkey and that this construction is imminent.
- This construction of a BYD assembly plant on the borders of the European Union is in addition to the ongoing construction of a BYD assembly plant in Hungary, which tends to prove that BYD is the most active Chinese carmaker and the most ambitious with regard to the European market.
- These constructions of two BYD battery electric vehicle assembly plants for the European market seem to respond (in anticipation) to European measures aimed at overtaxing BEVs from China and removing their ecological bonus in certain countries. Turkey is in fact not affected by these additional taxes on cars produced on its soil.
- The two Hungarian and Turkish assembly plants are planned to each produce 150,000 cars each year, a volume which could be doubled in the 2030s if the models produced there are successful.
- The first cars will leave the Hungarian factory at the beginning of 2026, the deadline for those to leave the Turkish factory has not yet been announced, but it could be either in 2027 or 2028.
In 2024, Japan remains the first market for Full-HEVs
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In 2024, Japan remains the first market for Full-HEVs
- While Japan remains reluctant about battery electric vehicles (BEV = 1.5% of the market over 5 months 2024) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV = 1.9% of the market over 5 months 2024), it remains the country with the highest demand for full hybrids (Full-HEV = 33.5% of the market over 5 months 2024), thanks mainly to Toyota and its premium subsidiary Lexus.
- More than half of Toyota and Lexus sales in Japan are equipped with full-hybrid powertrains, which seems logical insofar as Toyota was the pioneer of this technology combining gasoline and electric powertrains, the first Toyota Prius having been launched in 1997.
- On the Japanese market, the full-hybrid powertrain seems to be crushing all other alternative powertrains, such as battery electric, plug-in hybrid or even fuel cell. As a result, Japan is crushing all the other major world markets with this type of powertrain (which has reached between 30% and 35% of the Japanese market since 2023, compared with 25% to 30% in the previous two years), while sales of full-hybrids in Europe and the USA have yet to reach 10% market share, although they have been rising steadily since 2018.
- The most hostile major market for this type of powertrain is China, where sales of full-hybrid cars don't even reach 5% market share, with Chinese customers opting instead for plug-in hybrid powertrains, whose influence continues to grow, with a market share gradually approaching 20% of the Chinese market by 2024.
European BEV sales stagnate since 2023
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European BEV sales stagnate since 2023
- While BEV sales in China continue to grow in the first half of 2024, rising from 20% of the market in January to 23% in March, 24% in April and 26% in May (versus 24% for the whole of 2023), BEV sales in Europe have tended to stagnate since 2023 and even decline in the first half of 2024, with 12% of the market in January, 13% in February, 14% in March, 13.5% in April and 14% in May (versus 16% for the whole of 2023). Over the 5-months in 2024, the average market share stands at 22.7% in China versus 22.4% for the first 5 months of 2023, and 13.4% in Europe versus 13.8% for the first 5 months of 2023, demonstrating that growth continues in China but has come to a halt in Europe.
- Even if China's BEV sales continue to grow in 2024, there's no denying that BEV sales growth in this country is slowing sharply compared with previous years, as if reaching a plateau. In large Europe (EU + UK + Switzerland + Norway), growth has come to a halt. The question is whether or not the forthcoming arrival of battery electric models priced under 30,000 euros will revive the European BEV market.
- In the USA, BEV sales grew very modestly in the first half of 2024, with an average market share of 7.5% over 5 months in 2024, compared with 7.3% over 5 months in 2023. Over the full year 2023, this share was 7.7%. Japan remains reluctant to buy BEVs, with sales of this type of model down in the first half of 2024 (1.5% market share over the first 5 months of 2024 versus 2.3% over the first 5 months of 2023).
China sees strong sales of PHEV since 2023
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China sees strong sales of PHEV since 2023
- While sales of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) have been stagnating in Europe and the USA since 2023, sales in China have been rising sharply since 2021, and even more strongly since 2023. In May 2024, PHEV market share in China reached 18%, compared to 14% in March 2024, 11% in September 2023, 8% in March 2023 and 5% in March 2022. It seems that Chinese customers see PHEV models as less expensive than battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and more economical than ICE cars. In fact, the new PHEV customer base is to be found on the thermal car side, since neither BEV nor Full-HEV sales are collapsing in China.
- Customers in Europe are reacting differently, since for some of them, this is the first step towards acquiring a BEV that is more expensive and less practical to use (due to its limited range), while for others, this is a motorisation that is about to be banned in view of the European regulations announced for 2035.
- PHEV market share in large Europe (EU + UK + Switzerland + Norway) fell to less than 7% in May 2024, compared with 8% in January 2024, 9% in October 2023 and 12% in December 2022.
- In the USA, PHEV market share has stagnated at 2% since 2023. In Japan, PHEVs don't even reach this figure, as Japanese customers prefer full-hybrids (Full-HEV). PHEV market share in Japan floats between 1% and 1.5%, and the new Toyota Prius PHEV hasn't changed the trend at all.
With the Inster, Hyundai attacks the electric market by the bottom
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With the Inster, Hyundai attacks the electric market by the bottom
- Korean carmaker Hyundai has unveiled its new battery electric A-segment model, the Inster EV, which aims to enable a wider customer base to switch to this type of powertrain, thanks to lower prices than those charged by most carmakers today. The new model is derived from the A-segment Casper gasoline model sold in South Korea since 2021. It is, however, 20 cm longer (3.82 m), just as wide (1.61 m) and just as high (1.58 m), placing it between the dimensions of a Dacia Spring (3.73 m) and a Citroën e-C3 (4.01 m). The Hyundai Casper, Inster EV and i10 share the same platform, named internally as K1.
- In the Hyundai range, the Inster EV is positioned below the Kona EV (B segment). For the time being, it has no Kia counterpart, as the EV3 is larger than the Inster EV (measuring 4.30 m in length) and belongs to the B segment.
- The Hyundai Inster EV is powered by a choice of 96 hp (71 kW) or 113 hp (83 kW) electric motor, combined with a 42 kWh or 49 kWh battery providing a range of 290 km or 354 km, depending on the battery type and according to the WLTP cycle.
- Priced at 22,000/25,000 euros for the European market, the new Hyundai Inster EV targets the Dacia Spring and Citroën e-C3, as well as the new electric version of the Fiat Grande Panda. Given that 3,000 Kona electrics are sold every month in Europe, Inovev is counting on 1,500 to 2,000 monthly sales of the Inster EV, i.e. 18,000 to 24,000 units a year, all imported from South Korea.
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