The ICE version of the Fiat 500 will temporarily put on hold
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The ICE version of the Fiat 500 will temporarily put on hold
- The new generation of the Fiat 500 was born in 2007, exactly fifty years after the first generation in 1957. This internal combustion-engine (ICE) model, produced in Tichy, Poland, reached 200,000 units by 2008, but the following years were less successful, with sales volume between 150,000 and 190,000 units per year until 2019. The year 2020 sees the launch of the battery electric version, slightly different in terms of exterior design, which is produced at Fiat's Mirafiori plant in Italy.
- The sales development of the battery electric version (up to 73,000 units produced in 2023) had a natural consequence on the thermal Fiat 500, with sales falling from 167,000 units in 2019 to 129,000 in 2020 and 119,000 in 2023. However, the total for both versions remains decent, with 192,000 units in 2023, almost as many as the production peak reached in 2008.
- Despite this decent score, the Stellantis Group, owner of the Fiat brand since 2021, has decided to end the career of the current Fiat 500 ICE, produced in Poland, in the coming weeks.
- That leaves the battery electric version produced at Mirafiori (using NMC battery until 2025), which should have replaced the ICE Fiat 500 but failed to do so, no doubt because the price was too high. As BEV sales are not progressing as expected, the Stellantis group has scheduled the launch of a new ICE version of the Fiat 500 but this time, based on the electric version body and produced at Mirafiori.
Production of cars in Belgium has fallen by two-thirds since 2005
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Production of cars in Belgium has fallen by two-thirds since 2005
- Unlike Czech Republic and Slovakia, which production rose sharply between 2005 and 2023, thanks to relocations from France and Germany and the arrival of Japanese (Toyota) and Korean (Hyundai, Kia) carmakers, Belgian automotive production has been declining steadily since 2005. It has fallen by two-thirds since 2005! The reasons for this steady decline - which, however, seems to have come to a halt since 2019 - lie in the high cost of Belgian labor in automotive plants.
- A number of major carmakers have left the country since 1998, including Renault, Opel and Ford, which had big capacities there. Even Volkswagen has left Belgium, leaving only its luxury subsidiary Audi to operate (but for how long?).
- Only Volvo remains in Belgium, and there is no question for this carmaker - which came under the control of the Chinese Geely in 2010 – to leav the country, according to our information. On the contrary, the recent Volvo EX30 now produced in China will be produced in Belgium from next year.
- The departure of Renault, Opel, Ford and Volkswagen has nevertheless left its mark on the Belgian production over the last twenty-five years, as the country's production volume, which stood at 900,000 units in 2005, gradually fell to 500,000 in 2010, then to 400,000 in 2016 and 250,000 in 2019. By 2023, Belgian production has recovered to 270,000 units, but this figure is still well below those recorded before 2018. And there are no factors to predict a spectacular upturn in Belgian production over the next few years.
Production of passenger cars in Czech Republic has been multiplied by 2 since 2005
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Production of passenger cars in Czech Republic has been multiplied by 2 since 2005
- Production of cars in Czech Republic has grown considerably since the end of the Communist regime in 1991 and the takeover of the only national company, Skoda, by the German carmaker Volkswagen in the same year. But it was above all from the 2000s onwards that the Czech Republic saw its production increase sharply, thanks to the expansion of the Skoda range in the sedan category (Fabia, Scala, Octavia, Superb) and above all in the SUV category (Kamiq, Karoq, Kodiaq, Enyaq), as well as to the Japanese and Koreans, on the one hand the Toyota plant in Kolin in 2005 and on the other the Hyundai plant in Nosovice in 2008.
- Between 2005 and 2023, the Czech Republic's production volume doubled from 600,000 units to 1,223,000 in eighteen years. This makes the Czech Republic Europe's third-largest producer of passenger cars, behind Germany and Spain, but ahead of France.
- If we compare the Czech Republic with France and Slovakia (all three countries have produced roughly the same number of passenger cars since 2020), we can see that the steady growth of Czech car production has enabled it to finally overtake French car production. French car production, having relocated extensively to Southern and Eastern Europe, has been in constant decline since the early 2000s. The two curves crossed in 2020. Since then, the Czech Republic has produced more passenger cars than France.
- In terms of light vehicles production (passenger cars + light utility vehicles), France is still ahead of the Czech Republic because France produces a lot of LUVs, while the Czech Republic doesn't produce any at all.
Production of cars in Slovakia has been multiplied by 5 since 2005
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Production of cars in Slovakia has been multiplied by 5 since 2005
- Production of cars in Slovakia has grown even more strongly than in Czech republic, especially as Slovakia was a country without any car assembly plants for decades. From 200,000 vehicles produced in 2005, Slovakia produced 500,000 in 2010, 800,000 in 2015 and 940,000 in 2023, meaning that the country's production volume has been multiplied by 5 in eighteen years. Slovakia is thus the fifth-largest producer of passenger cars in Europe in 2023, behind Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic and France, but ahead of Great Britain and Italy.
- Slovakia first benefited from the development of the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, then from the establishment of the PSA plant in Trnava in 2006 (following the decision to relocate the Peugeot 207 and 208 from France), the establishment of the Kia plant in Zilina in 2007 and finally the establishment of the Land-Rover plant in Nitra in 2019.
- When we compare Slovakia to France and the Czech Republic (all three countries have been producing roughly the same number of passenger cars since 2020), we can see that the steady growth in Slovak car production has enabled it to finally catch up with the production of passenger cars in France. French car production, having relocated extensively to Southern and Eastern Europe, has been in constant decline since the early 2000s. The two curves converged in 2020. Since then, Slovakia has produced almost as many cars as France.
- In terms of light vehicles production (passenger cars + light utility vehicles), France is still ahead of Slovakia because France produces a lot of LUVs, while Slovakia does not produce any at all.
BMW's Debrecen assembly plant will start in 2025
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BMW's Debrecen assembly plant will start in 2025
- The assembly plant built by BMW in Debrecen (Hungary), is scheduled to start the production of vehicles in 2025. The first vehicle to be produced at the new plant will be the replacement for the BMW i-X3 electric SUV, which is currently produced in China and launched in 2020. Its ICE version, the BMW X3, whose origins date back to 2017, is produced in the USA, in South Carolina, in the town of Spartanburg (where the X4, X5, X6, X7 and XM are also produced), but also in South Africa, in the town of Rosslyn, and in China, in the town of Shenyang. The Chinese site is the only one to produce the battery electric version of the X3.
- BMW chose to produce the battery electric version of the current i-X3 in China because this country is the leading BEV market, whereas the US market didn’t really starts to adopt them.
- The return of the electric i-X3 to Europe next year may raise questions. However, it can be interpreted as a logical follow-up of the location of the BMW i-X1 and i-X2 in Europe (at the Regensburg site in Germany). Given that BMW's German plants are close to saturation (especially after the end of the Nedcar site in Born), the Debrecen plant was the best opportunity.
- The future i-X3 should mark its era, as it will inaugurate the brand's new design, which returns to less aggressive, softer lines, inspired by the BMWs of the 1960s imagined at the time by Italian designer Michelotti, which remain known under the name “Neue Klasse”, as does the new design recently announced and named in the same way.
- The BMW Vision Neue Klasse X shown below anticipates the design of the future i-X3 launched next year.
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