Inovev forecasts 40,000 units per year of the new Alfa-Romeo Junior
To complete its range in the lower segements, the Italian brand Alfa-Romeo (one of the 14 brands of the Stellantis group) presented the Junior (name of a former model of the brand), a B-segment SUV which in some way succeeds the Mito, the brand's only B-segment sedan, produced between 2008 and 2018 at 300,000 units.
 
The Junior shares its STLA-Small platform (ex-CMP) with the B-segment models of the Stellantis group, such as the Peugeot 208, Peugeot 2008, Opel Corsa, Opel Mokka, DS 3, Fiat 600, Lancia Ypsilon or Jeep Avenger.
 
The Alfa-Romeo Junior, which measures 4.17 m long, 1.78 m wide and 1.54 m high, competes with B-segment SUVs such as the Renault Captur, Nissan Juke, Ford Puma, Volkswagen Taigo, Volkswagen T-Cross, Skoda Kamiq and Toyota Yaris Cross, as well as B-segment SUVs from the Stellantis group (Peugeot 2008, Opel Mokka, DS 3, Fiat 600, Jeep Avenger).
 
The Italian new model is equipped with two types of engines: a 1.2 MHEV petrol engine delivering 136 hp (100 kW) and a electric engine of 156 hp (115 kW) or 240 hp (177 kW) coupled with a battery delivering 54 kWh, for a range of 400 km. The choice between gasoline engine and electric motor will optimize the sales volumes of the Junior.
 
This model will be assembled in Poland, in Tichy, alongside the Fiat 500, Fiat 600 and Jeep Avenger, at a rate of 40,000 units per year according to Inovev, including 75% in the gasoline version and 25% in the electric version. Its announced price is 31,500 euros in the gasoline version and 40,500 euros in the electric version. Alfa-Romeo has indicated that it will launch a new Stelvio SUV in 2025 and a new Giulia sedan in 2026.
Jeep extend the thermal engine on its Avenger throughout Europe
Stellantis had initially planned to market the Jeep Avenger only in a battery electric version except in Italy and Spain, two large European markets still reluctant to electric motorization. However, due to excessive low sales, the carmaker was forced to reconsidered his decision and has been marketing thermal versions of the Avenger with a gasoline engine since fall 2023 in all European countries.
 
Since this period, sales of Jeep Avenger Europe (data on 30 countries: EU + United Kingdom + Norway + Switzerland) have increased from 3,500/4,500 units per month to 5,000/6,000 units per month and even 7 000 units in January 2024. Sales of the battery electric version remained stable at 1,000 units per month throughout 2023 except in December where the model recorded 2,000 sales, the month of December being a good sales month for BEV. In 2024, sales have fallen to 1,400 units per month on average in January-February-March.
 
It is therefore on the side of the thermal versions that we can observe the sales growth. From 2,500 units per month in June-July-August 2023, sales increased to 4,000 in September (first month of the extension of thermal versions throughout Europe), 5,000 in October, 4,500 in November before falling back to 2,500 in December. The year 2024 started off auspiciously with 5,700 sales in January, 4,200 in February and 5,100 in March, or 5,000 per month on average.
 
From March 2023 to March 2024, the thermal versions collected nearly 44,000 sales in Europe (75% of Avenger sales) and the battery electric versions 15,000 sales (25% of Avenger sales), or nearly 59,000 sales in total. The thermal versions have thus made it possible to really develop sales of the Avenger, more than if the carmaker had only marketed the electric versions.
Germany has lost its position as Europe's leading BEV market
As a result of the end of subsidies in Germany for the purchase of BEVs at the end of last year, this country has fallen behind the United Kingdom on the BEV market over the cumulative 3 months of 2024.
 
The United Kingdom registered 84,314 BEVs over this period while Germany registered 81,337, just a little more than France (79,823 units). PHEV sales do not offset the losses on BEV sales as the United Kingdom registered 42,559 PHEVs during the first quarter of 2024 while Germany registered 44,985, which implies that the United Kingdom registered 126,873 plug-in vehicles (BEV+PHEV) while Germany registered 126,322.
 
Certainly, the gap between the two countries is quite small – especially since the month of March is traditionally a important month in the United Kingdom in terms of registrations – but it is the first time since 2020 that Germany is no longer the European leader in sales of BEVs and plug-in vehicles (BEV+PHEV). However, we should wait for the results of the first 6 months of 2024 to see if this situation continues or if the first quarter of 2024 was just temporary.
 
If we look at the overall market (all motorisation included), Germany and the United Kingdom were growing in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023, as the German market is growing by 4.2% over the period and the United Kingdom by 10.4%. The entire European market (31 countries) increased by 4.9% (France +5.7%, Italy +5.7%, Spain +3.1%, Poland +12.7%).
Paris Motorshow 2022: NamX and Hopium
- Two young French companies, NamX and Hopium, will also be present at the Paris Motor Show to present their ideas on hydrogen vehicles.
NamX, whose name stands for "New Automotive and Mobility Exploration", is a Franco-Moroccan company which, in collaboration with the Italian coachbuilder and designer Pininfarina, based near Turin, is developing an hydrogen SUV, named HUV. Its specificity is in its six modular and therefore interchangeable hydrogen tanks, which should allow it to travel up to 800 kilometres.
The fuel cell must be able to power a 220 kW (300 hp) electric motor in the rear-wheel-drive version and two electric motors with a total output of 404 kW (550 hp) in the all-wheel-drive version. According to NamX, the HUV should be ready for commercialization in 2025, but it is not yet known whether mass production is planned and, if so, where it will be located.
Hopium, founded by French racing driver Olivier Lombard, is headquartered in Paris and testing center in Linas, France. An engineering studio is located in Munich (Germany) and the software is developed in Los Angeles (USA). This young company has developed a very sporty sedan, the Machina, which will run on hydrogen. The fuel cell powers a 368 kW (500 hp) motor and should enable a range of 1,000 km and a top speed of 230 km/h. Also, refueling time should be only three minutes. We can expect the Machina to go on sale soon, as a price of €120,000 has already been communicated and the first 1,000 units have already been reserved.
   
 

Contact us: info@inovev.com

Towards a slowdown of the European BEV market?
Is the European BEV automotive market slowing down? While the European market (31 countries) of battery electric vehicles (BEV) had increased by 29% in January 2024 compared to January 2023 (120,594 units compared to 93,653), had increased by only 10% in February 2024 compared to as of February 2023 (131,223 units compared to 118,831), the market declined by 11% in March 2024 compared to March 2023 (196,411 units compared to 220,778). These figures should be compared with those of the European market as a whole: +11.5% in January 2024, +10.2% in February 2024 and -2.8% in March 2024.
 
Over the 3 months of 2024, the European BEV market remains positive (+3.5%) but the trend has been downward since March and even since the last days of February, mainly attributable to Germany which stopped subsidies for the purchase of BEVs at the end of last year. Germany thus saw its BEV sales fall by 29% in March 2024 compared to March 2023 and by 14% over the 3 months of 2024 compared to the 3 months of 2023. Germany thus lost 13,000 sales of BEV in March 2024 out of 24,000 across Europe and 13,000 sales over the 3 months of 2024 out of 15,000 across Europe. More worryingly, several other countries follow the same trend as Germany in March 2024, such as Italy (-34%), Norway (-48%), Finland (-36%), Sweden (-34%). %), Ireland (-41%), Slovenia (-38%), Greece (-24%), etc
 
The slowdown in the growth of BEV sales in Europe in 2023 is therefore nearly flat in the first quarter of 2024 which can be explained by the end of subsidies in certain countries and by the lack of affordable products.
 
A new analysis will be made in July to see if the trend increases or reverses over the 6 months of 2024.
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