Inovev forecasts 50,000 to 100,000 units per year of the new Smart SUV
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Inovev forecasts 50,000 to 100,000 units per year of the new Smart SUV
- The Smart brand will stop producing its Fortwo and Fourfour models in Europe in 2022, after a 2021 year which will mark some progress over 2020, as the production volume will probably exceed 50,000 units produced this year against 37,000 the previous year and 123,000 in 2019. In the meantime, all production switched from thermal to fully electric, which has caused the brand to lose many customers who have left to competitors.
- The realistic Smart concept car presented at the 2021 Munich Motor Show reveals a change in the business model of the brand which no longer seems to market A-segment models, but more imposing B-segment vehicles. With 4.29 m long, the concept car is way longer than the 2.70 m of the Fortwo and the 3.50 m of the Forfour. The dimensions of the new model, which are closed to a SUV than a sedan, are similar to those of the Mini Countryman (4.30 m). But the new model of Smart powered exclusively by a 100% electric motor is wider (1.90 m) and higher (1.70 m) than the Mini Countryman (1.82 m wide and 1.56 m high).
- Designed on a technical basis developed by the Chinese Geely, the future SUV of Smart should share components/systems with Volvo models that will use the same platform, Volvo being part of the Geely group. With a battery capacity of 70 kWh, the future Smart will have an autonomy of 400 kilometers.
- The production model resulting from this concept will be unveiled at the end of 2022 and marketed in early 2023. It will be assembled in China, following the agreement signed with Mercedes last year. The model will of course be sold in China and exported throughout Europe. Inovev forecasts 50,000 sales per year of this model at the start of its career, then 100,000 per year in the middle of its career.
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Renault will end its partnership with Brilliance
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Renault will end its partnership with Brilliance
- After ending in 2020 its agreement with its Chinese partner Dongfeng (which is also a long-time partner of Nissan) to the benefit of Geely, Renault has decided to end its agreement with Brilliance on utility vehicles. The Jinbei and Huasong brands were the brands that the French carmaker had bought for this purpose, and Renault included the quantities produced by these two Chinese brands in the total production of the Renault group, as it is done with Renault-Samsung, Dacia, Lada or Alpine.
- However, it is becoming clear today that the hopes placed in these brands have not given satisfaction, because Jinbei and Huasong have never exceeded 165,000 annual sales (165,000 units in 2018, 162,000 in 2019 and 156,000 in 2020) and these two subsidiaries are now experiencing such financial difficulties that Renault is considering separating with them. The initial project was to produce and market fully electric light utility vehicles under the three brands Jinbei, Huasong and Renault.
- Production was scheduled for 2022 at the Shenyang plant, owned by Brilliance, but this project will not see the day. The announced bankruptcy of Chinese brands Jinbei and Huasong does not appear to have an impact on the Brilliance brand which has a long-standing deal with BMW which needs it to produce its own models in China.
- For Renault, this is bad news, unless it helps to clarify it strategy in China, which is now focused on its recent agreement with Geely, itself a partner of the Daimler group for the Smart brand.
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Great Wall took over the Brazilian plant of Mercedes cars
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Great Wall took over the Brazilian plant of Mercedes cars
- The Daimler group shut down in December 2020 the production of its Brazilian plant in Iracemapolis, where the C-Class and GLA were built for the local market. The results of this production is quite negative as Mercedes did not succeed to continuously assemble cars between 1998 and 2020, with first A-Class from 1998 to 2004, then C-Class from 2008 to 2010 and then from 2016 to 2020, as well as GLAs from 2016 to 2020. Totally, the German carmaker has assembled on Brazilian soil 59,798 A-Class, 69,071 C-Class and 11,526 GLA, meaning a total of 140,395 passenger cars in 22 years.
- This volume represents only 0.3% of the total production of passenger cars in Brazil between 1998 and 2020, a ridiculously low figure, just as low as the Mercedes sales in the Brazilian market. Mercedes has therefore decided to stop production in Brazil for the third time, and perhaps permanently.
- Indeed, the plant has just been bought by the Chinese carmaker Great Wall which seeks to develop at a global scale and intends to establish itself in Brazil, a potentially important market, the sixth largest market in the world behind China, the United States, Europe, Japan and India. The plant will be transformed to be able to produce 100,000 cars a year, four times more than in the Mercedes period.
- Great Wall sold 709,766 vehicles worldwide in the first seven months of 2021, converting to a volume of 1.2 million units for the full year. Today, Great Wall does not sell any cars in Brazil, while Chery is operating in the country for several years. Chery sold nearly 24,000 cars in Brazil in the first seven months of 2021.
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Ford to end production of its vehicles in India
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Ford to end production of its vehicles in India
- American carmakers continue to retreat on their home market. After GM stopped its production in India (Chevrolet Spark) at the end of 2020, it is now Ford's turn to announce the closure of its plant in India before the end of the year 2021. Ford currently produces Figo, Ecosport, Endeavor and Freestyle models at the Chennai plant. In 2020, 110,878 vehicles were assembled in this plant, including 85,007 Ecosport which was the most produced model. Over the first seven months of 2021, there are still 52,643 vehicles produced, including 37,555 Ecosport. Ford represented only 3% of the Indian production in 2020 and only 2% in 2021, which almost corresponds to its market share.
- The announcement follows the shutdown of the Ford plants in Australia, Brazil and Russia. India is the fifth largest market in the world after China, the United States, Europe and Japan, but that did not seem to have played a role in Ford's decision. Ford says it will supply the overseas Indian market despite heavy import taxes. However, we can see a clear desire by Ford to pull back in North America, which is the reverse of an expansionary plan as the North American market is already saturated. There are many brands present in this market.
- The Ford group has been declining steadily since the 2000s. From being the second largest carmaker in the world until the early 2000s, the Ford group suddenly dropped out and fell to sixth place in 2010 and then to seventh in 2020. The sale of Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover brands and the elimination of Mercury accelerated the decline of the former world's second-largest carmaker.
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In 2020, battery electric vehicles represented only 2% of the light utility market in Europe
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In 2020, battery electric vehicles represented only 2% of the light utility market in Europe
- While in Europe, the market share for electrified passenger cars (PCs), or xEVs (BEV + HEV + PHEV), reached 15.3% of the total market in 2020, broken down into 6.2% for BEVs, 5,2% for PHEVs and 3.9% for HEVs, the share of these engines is completely different for light utility vehicles (LUVs).
- In 2020, the share of xEVs in the LUV market did not exceed 2.9% divided into 2% of BEVs and 0.9% of PHEVs. To this can be added 1.3% of engines running on natural gas. In 2019, this share of xEVs engines had not reached 3%. Diesel engines still represent the vast majority of engines running LUVs, reaching 92.4% of the market share in 2020. Despite this significant share, diesel engines have been declining steadily as the arrival of BEVs and PHEVs on this market. The gasoline engine remains very marginal as it does not exceed 3.4% of the LUV market share. All motorisations included, the European LUV market represented 1,793,739 united in 2020 against 2,190,291 units in 2019 (-18%).
- Compared to 2019, the number of BEVs (37,282 units) increased by 30.8%, that of PHEVs (13,393 units) by 175%, while the number of diesel (1,669,360 units) fell by 17.8 % but remains predominant, gasoline engines (54,209 units) by 45.2% and natural gas engines (19,495 units) by 29.3%.
- There are currently 18 LUVs available with BEV and PHEV engines in Europe. The best-selling models are the Nissan e-NV200, Opel e-Vivaro, Mercedes e-Vito, Mercedes e-Sprinter, Renault Kangoo ZE, Peugeot e-Expert, Citroën e-Jumpy and Ford Transit Custom.
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