Steady decline in mainstream brands in the European market
 

Since the early 90s European generalist brands have been steadily losing ground in Europe. Their market share went from 72% to 56% between 1995 and 2012. These 16 lost points were taken by European Premium brands (such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Saab, Alfa, Lancia, Jaguar and Land Rover), these same brands won 7 points, the Japanese mainstream brands won 1.5 points, the general Korean brands have won 6 and finally low cost brands (Dacia, Lada), won 1.5.


This shows that the two categories that have "chewed away at European mainstream brands are for 80% of European premium brands (in the upper price range) and general Korean brands (in the lower price range).


Japanese mainstream brands and low cost brands have gained little from general European brands (20% of cases). It also seems that the general Korean brands have "chewed" generalist Japanese brands, since 2008 we have observed a weakening of Japanese market share while Koreans continue to progress.


The low cost car market is still very incremental since it only occupied 2% of the European market in 2012.

13-20-1

 

Peugeot unveils the new 308
 

Their wont be a second Peugeot 309 (This model was launched to replace the Talbot Horizon). The Peugeot 308 replacement  wont be called 309 but 308. This is the first time that a Peugeot sedan is being named after its elder. In the not so distant future all Peugeot cars should follow this patent.


This new 308 is very different to the old one. Its bodywork is very much alike as that of the new VW Golf VII, lower than its elder by about 4cm. It has been equipped with the all EMP2 platform recently launched with the Citroen Picasso C4.


Presented at the next Frankfurt Motor Show in October 2013, the 308 will be launched shortly after the show in the autumn.


The new 308 is to entirely manufactured in the Sochaux plant, alongside with the 3008, 5008 and the Citroen DS5.


The last version was built both in Sochaux and in Mulhouse, only the Mulhouse plant is monopolised by the production of the Peugeot 208, the Peugeot 2008, the Citroen C4 and the Citroen DS4.

13-20-2

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Argentina's production has quadrupled since 2002
 

The automobile industry is a key sector of the Argentine economy since it represents 36.5% of manufactured exports and 7.5% of employment (more than 140,000 jobs throughout the value chain sector).


In addition, automobile production is one of the 11 priority sectors that are part of the "2020 Argentine Industrial Strategic Plan. Its aim is to strengthen the domestic industry , to achieve a production of 1.9 million units in 2020 and locally produce 60% of the components of vehicles made in Argentina.


Argentina's production (PC + LCV) has more than quadrupled since 2002, the same date we saw a peak in the recession of this country recorded from 160 000 units in 2005 to 760,000 in 2012.


From 2003 until 2008, car production has benefited from the economic growth of the country but also from the growth of its neighboring countries (mainly Brazil) since exports have been growing about 22% each year during this period.


From 2010, the Argentine production started up again: 720 000 units in 2010 and 820,000 in 2011. In 2012, however, production fell to 760,000 units, while registrations continued to grow. This means that the country is importing more vehicles from abroad (mainly Brazil).


With a of volume of more than 700,000 units per year, Argentina is still above its 1998 peak record (460,000 units).


Per carmaker, the PSA group is the leader in terms of production, with a share of 18% in 2012, ahead of GM (17%) Renault-Nissan (14%), VW (14%), Ford (12%) and Toyota (12%).

13-19-9

 

Nissan is going to build a new plant in Thailand
 
Nissan has announced an investment of 277 million euros in the construction of a second assembly line in Thailand. The carmaker's intention is to relocate its production from Japan to reduce its production costs.

For now, Nissan has not yet released the name of the model manufactured in the new plant, but this model will be both sold locally and exported worldwide.

The second plant will be located in the SamutPrakan province, neighboring Bangkok and close to the existing Nissan plant, that employs around 6000 people.

The current Nissan factory had eluded in 2011 the floods which had severely affected Japanese firms operating in the country. The plant had produced 185,000 vehicles in 2011 and 257,000 in 2012, against 175,000 in 2010.

Nissan plans to initially produce 75,000 vehicles in its new plant, which is scheduled to open in August 2014. The production capacity of the site should subsequently be doubled to be increased to 150 000 units per year.

Nissan has set a target of doubling its share of the Thai market to reach 15% by 2016. Like other Japanese carmakers, Nissan seeks growth in emerging markets to offset a decrease in activity in Japan.

13-19-10

 

Mercedes unveils the new S-Class
 

Mercedes has unveiled the new S-Class, the "flagship" of the Stuttgart brand.  This model takes over the generation launched in 2005, which itself replaced the generation launched in 1998.


The first S-Class was launched in 1965. Since then, the Mercedes high-range S-class has managed to supplant its two main competitors, the BMW 7 Series (the first model dates from 1968) and Audi A8 (the first model in 1988).  It is however to note that the difference in sales between the three luxury cars has greatly reduced over the past three years (with a S-class arriving at the end of a cycle).


The image of the three Premium carmakers - Mercedes, BMW and Audi - lies greatly on these three models, symbolizing the upscale European level. The new Mercedes S-Class positions itself now as the highest range model of Daimler, since the Maybachwas stopped earlier this year.  The carmaker expects sales of 100,000 vehicles per year, a figure already achieved in the past (between 1982 and 1986, between 2000 and 2003 and between 2006 and 2008).


Other carmakers have tried with little success to make a foray into this luxury sedan segment , in particular Lexus (with the LS), Jaguar (with the XJ) and Maserati (with the Quattroporte), but also Cadillac or Lincoln who lost his footing on the marketAbove this range, however, remain Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but with very modest sales volumes (less than 10,000 vehicles per year).

13-19-7

 

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