The Hyundai-Kia group launches its Genesis brand in Europe
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The Hyundai-Kia group launches its Genesis brand in Europe
- The Hyundai-Kia group has decided to launch Genesis, its Premium brand on the European market, whereas until now this Premium brand was only available in the United States, Canada, Korea, the Middle East, Australia and in Russia. Genesis intends to become valuable in this category, just like Japanese brands like Lexus, Infiniti and Acura, and of course traditional European brands like Mercedes, BMW and Audi.
- The challenge will be difficult because it is not easy to impose a new Premium brand on a market as competitive as the European market where these historical brands have been well established for several decades. Infiniti (Nissan's Premium brand) failed in this attempt, surely because this firm has failed to differentiate itself clearly from its competitors, either in terms of design or in terms of technologies. Tesla and Lexus have imposed themselves against the Europeans brands thanks to their technological differentiation, the hybrid for Lexus and the battery electric technology for Tesla.
- Infiniti did not brought added value also compared to Lexus and Tesla. As for Acura (Honda's Premium brand), Honda preferred to never proposed it in Europe. Genesis is going to have to bring something new, and at the moment it's not clear what it could bring. Its current lineup consists of traditional sedans, like the G70, G80 and G90 of different sizes, and classic SUVs, like the GV70 and GV80. The brand's global production did not exceed 137,000 units in 2020, compared to 74,000 in 2019, far from the figures reached by Lexus (720,000), Tesla (500,000) and the European Premium brands.
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Opel unveils new Movano utility vehicle
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Opel unveils new Movano utility vehicle
- Opel has just unveiled the third generation of its Movano utility, which is in the N1-3 category, while the Vivaro is in the N1-2 category and the Combo in the N1-1 category. These categories correspond to the dimensions of the vehicles, but above all to the transport capacity. Previously based on the Renault Master, the new utility vehicle of the German brand belonging to the Stellantis group since 2017 had to swap this body for the same as the Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Jumper. Only the front part makes it possible to differentiate the different models within the Stellantis group.
- As a result, this new generation of Opel Movano is available not only with a diesel engine (this type of engine remains largely the majority on this type of vehicle), but as a battery electric vehicle, like the Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Jumper. It will thus be offered with 2.2-liter diesel engines (120 to 165 hp). The electric version, intended primarily for deliveries in urban areas, will offer a maximum range of 117 or 225 kilometres depending on the battery size (37 kWh or 70 kWh).
- The characteristics of the Opel Movano are the same as those of the other models of the Stellantis group, and its production is expected to be carried out at the Italian plant of Val di Sangro, such as the Ducato, Boxer and Jumper. Its production could reach 25,000 units per year.
- It will be offered in four lengths (L1 to L4) and three heights (H1 to H3), with a maximum loading volume ranging from 8 to 17 m3, and loads of up to 2 tonnes.
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Renault confirms the creation of its future electrical hub in France
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Renault confirms the creation of its future electrical hub in France
- Renault has been announcing for months the creation of a large electricity hub in northern France. The carmaker has confirmed that it intends to combine its two northern plants in a subsidiary dedicated to battery electric vehicles (BEVs): Douai and Maubeuge.
- The first plant (Douai) which currently produces the Scénic, Espace and Talisman - all of these models equipped with thermal engines - should by 2025 become a plant dedicated to the group's BEVs. This plant should assemble the future electric Mégane, the future electric R5 (which could put an end to the production of the Zoé), as well as two other electric models, probably a future Scénic and an Alpine SUV. Other projects are being considered, such as an electric R4, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Renault is trying to build a coherent range of electric cars which could be offered alongside the classic range of thermal engine cars. Inovev forecasts that 150,000 BEVs will be produced in Douai each year.
- The second plant (Maubeuge) which currently produces the Renault Kangoo, Mercedes Citan and Nissan NV250 should increase its production of BEVs, which will be represented by the Renault Kangoo ZE, Mercedes EQT (T Class electric) and Nissan derived from the new Kangoo. Inovev forecasts 50,000 BEVs to be produced in Maubeuge each year.
- A battery plant in partnership with the Chinese company Envision AESC will be built near the Douai plant, to supply the electric models assembled in Douai and Maubeuge. This announcement is quite astonishing as the European automobile industry proclaims the need for the control of the batteries technologies and for development of an independent European industry.
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Over 4 months 2021, global production is nearly 15% lower compared to 2019
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Over 4 months 2021, global production is nearly 15% lower compared to 2019
- The volume of global automobile production (PC + LUV) increased by 30.7% in the first four months of 2021, compared to the first four months of 2020. But this period of last year had been severely hampered by various plant closures around the world, as a result of the coronavirus crisis (Covid-19). This comparison is therefore irrelevant, and this is the reason why it is preferable to establish a comparison with the first four months of 2019. This comparison thus shows a negative difference of 14.4% in 2021 compared to 2019.
- This means that the volume of world automobile production in the first quarter of 2021 is nearly 15% lower than that of the first quarter of 2019. This drop in production can be attributed to the problem of semiconductors supply, because many plants had to shut down, but we can also conclude that demand has fallen slightly compared to 2019.
- This gap is also higher than the global sales (-4.5%) one, which means that the start of 2019 was marked by the increase in stocks for a year which represented 89.4 million units sold and marked the fourth best year of the decade. It can also be assumed that stocks are now declining.
- By country, China keeps its leading position, in the first quarter of 2021, with 31% of the global production, ahead of Europe (19%), the United States (12%), Japan (12%), India (6%) and South Korea (5%).
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Read more... Over 4 months 2021, global production is nearly 15% lower compared to 2019
Nissan plans to build a battery plant for electric cars
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Nissan plans to build a battery plant for electric cars
- Nissan is negotiating with the British government to build a battery plant in the UK as part of a post-Brexit plan to make the country the main production center for the carmaker outside of Japan and the United States.
- The new plant will be built near Sunderland which currently produces the Nissan Qashqai, Nissan Juke and Nissan Leaf for the European market, including Russia. This plant, with a capacity of 500,000 vehicles per year, produced only 245,649 units in 2020, compared to 371,304 in 2019 and 442,254 in 2018.
- In 2020, the Nissan Qashqai accounted for 149,426 units produced, the Nissan Juke 72,745 units and the Nissan Leaf 23,478 units. The Infiniti Q30 & QX30 were discontinued in 2019 and the Nissan Note in 2017.
- The Sunderland plant has therefore been in decline for several years and the carmaker wants to boost the plant with the future production of a battery electric crossover and the construction of a plant to assemble batteries for electric cars. Nissan will cooperate with the Chinese battery maker Envision AESC, with which Nissan has already worked for more than 10 years. The future battery plant will be able to equip 200,000 battery electric cars from 2024 (9 GWh), then 500,000 units in 2030 (25 GWh), and even 35 GWh in the long term. However, it is not clear whether the plant will only assemble cells already produced elsewhere, or if it will cover the entire process, from cell production to assembly into modules and then into packs.
- With the expected growth in sales of electric cars all over the world, Nissan, like other carmakers, confirms that the production of batteries on a large scale, not only to supply the brands of the Renault-Nissan group but also brands of other automotive groups, is a necessity. Thus the vision of cooperation between carmakers for the production of batteries is moving away in favour of "individual" production.
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