Opel continues to see market share shrink
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Opel continues to see market share shrink
- The European subsidiaries of the American group GM (Opel, Vauxhall) were bought in 2017 by the French group PSA, after belonged to the GM group for nearly 90 years.
- The European market leaving from the American group therefore greatly benefits to PSA group, which gains new production capacities and an opportunity to increase the use of its platforms and engines. This policy should continue to be developpedwith the next merger with Fiat, Alfa-Romeo and Lancia scheduled for 2021.
- Regarding Opel-Vauxhall (which we will call Opel here for an easy understanding), its market share has been steadily shrinking in Europe, from 12.5% in 1995 to 4.2% in 2020. In Germany, its first market, the market share declined from 16.8% in 1995 to 4.6% in 2020. The takeover by PSA in 2017 did not reverse this trend, it was even worst as the decline grown in 2020 compared to previous years. It is true that the end of the Opel Adam, Karl, Cascada, Mokka, Zafira can partly explain this decrease in the brand's market share. The imminent launch of the new Mokka and Astra models could however boost the carmaker sales.
- But the positioning of Opel in PSA is not yet clear, especially as the Fiat brand will position itself in the Stellantis group in the same market as Opel, meaning the entry-level generalists.
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Inovev forecasts 25,000 units per year of the new Renault Arkana SUV
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Inovev forecasts 25,000 units per year of the new Renault Arkana SUV
- In order to catch up its slight delay in terms of sales over its competitor PSA which sold a little more than a million SUVs worldwide in 2019 (under its Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Vauxhall and DS brands), against a little more than 900,000 units for Renault, Dacia and Samsung, the Renault group has unveiled the European version of its Arkana coupe SUV.
- This model is marketed in Russia under this name and in Korea under the name XM3. The Russian version is based on the Dacia Duster (M0 platform) while the Korean version is based on the Renault Clio and Captur (CMF-B platform). The Korean version will be imported to Europe, not the Russian version. Even if the Arkanauses the Captur platform (4.23 m long) and not the Kadjar (4.49 m long) one, it is 8 cm longer than the Kadjar (4.57 m long ). On the other hand, the width of 1.80 m is less than 4 cm than the Kadjar.
- The Arkana will be marketed from spring 2021 with a 1.3 TCE engine developing 140 hp or 160 hp. Then the model will be available the following summer in an hybrid version (HEV), as the one used by the Renault Clio and not the plug-in version (PHEV) of the Renault Captur.
- Inovev forecasts 25,000 units per year of the new Renault Arkana imported from the Busan plant in Korea, where the Renault Koleos and its Korean version QM5 are also produced. It is to remind that the production of the Koleoshas never exceeded 20,000 units per year, while the Kadjar reached 150,000 units in 2016 before falling to 130,000 in 2019. Finaly, the Kadjar will be replaced in spring 2021 by a new generation based on the CMF-C / D platform.
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Read more... Inovev forecasts 25,000 units per year of the new Renault Arkana SUV
Ford Mustang Mach E sales beginning are difficult
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Ford Mustang Mach E sales beginning are difficult
- Ford introduced its first mass-produced electric car last spring, the Mustang Mach E. This name could suggest that this model is derived from the Ford Mustang coupe, but it is not. In fact, the Mustang is the last survivor of the Ford brand's passenger car line-up in North America, as the automaker has removed the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion and Taurus from its manufacturing program in that region.
- Produced since February 2020, the Mustang Mach E has failed to find its customers in the American market, which is rather a buyer of large pickups and large SUVs equipped with thermal engines.
- The Mustang Mach E comes under the form of a compact SUV with an 100% electric motor, but not based on the MEB platform of the Volkswagen group.
- Ford produced only 283 units of this model in eight months, which is a very small figure, even in a period of market crisis. This means the model has sold less than 280 units since the start of the year. At the same time, Tesla produced 153,000 Model 3 at its Fremont plant and sold 83,000 in the US market. As for the Model Y, which is the direct competitor of the Mustang Mach E, Tesla has produced 21,000 units since last March and sold 18,500 units in the US market. The sluggish start-up of the Mustang Mach E possibly demonstrates that Ford does not really have any legitimacy in the market of electric cars, and it could be that this model will experience a real commercial failure.
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There will be nearly no more American sedans produced in the NAFTA region in 2021
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There will be nearly no more American sedans produced in the NAFTA region in 2021
- 2020 was a very bad year for American brands sedans produced in the NAFTA region. Carmakers like GM and Ford had notified last year that they remove most of their sedans made in North America, for the reason that this type of body had become a very small segment of the local market, with customers going massively on SUVs and crossovers.
- The GM group has therefore eliminated the Chevrolet Cruze, Volt, Impala as well as the Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac ATS, XTS, CTS and CT6 this year. The Ford Group has phased out all of its sedans produced in North America, namely the Fiesta, Focus, Fusion and Taurus. The FCA group had already discontinued several of its sedans in previous years.
- This strategy of American carmaker leaves the market open to Japanese, Korean and German carmakers which can grab this sedan market that will represent nearly four million units in 2020, in the United States alone. This market represents 25% of the light vehicle registrations in the USA, which has been declining steadily for the past fifteen years, but we observe that the volumes are not negligible, since they still represent a market larger than that of Germany, for example. The only American sedans still produced today in North America are the Chevrolet Bolt, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Sonic, Cadillac CT5, Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Lincoln Continental and of course the Tesla Model 3 and Model S. Except from Tesla, it seems that several of these models are condemned at short term.
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Read more... There will be nearly no more American sedans produced in the NAFTA region in 2021
With its new 500, Fiat did not want to follow Smart's strategy
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With its new 500, Fiat did not want to follow Smart's strategy
- The FCA group unveiled earlier this year the battery electric Fiat 500e. It will be on sale from October. Even if its silhouette remains close to the Fiat 500 marketed until then, the model is different as the dimensions have increased (+6 cm in length and +6 cm in width) and few parts are common. The cabin design is also completely reviewed. In addition, the new Fiat 500e is not produced in Tichy in Poland as for the thermal version, but in Mirafiori in Italy.
- However, Fiat did not choose the strategy of Smart, by marketing the new 500 only in a battery electric version, which would have caused a fall in sales of Fiat 500, in a magnitude of 80 to 90%, because the electric version is more expensive, around 15,000 euros (15,000 euros for the entry-level thermal and 30,000 euros for the 500e). And European customers, especially Italian, are not 100% adept of electric cars. An 80-90% drop in Fiat 500 sales is equivalent to a loss of around 150,000 vehicles per year, and the carmaker was unwilling to take such a risk.
- As a result, FCA offers two Fiat 500 today: the classic 500 with a combustion engine, produced in Tichy and which keep the old body launched in 2007, and the 500e produced at Mirafiori, which benefits from a new body.
- The question of the thermal Fiat 500 remains: will it continue to pursue its career with the same body as the current one or whether it could soon take over the more modern body of the 500e? And if so, will the thermal Fiat 500 production be transferred to the Mirafiori plant, leaving the Tichy plant without activity, despite lower costs production in Poland?
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Read more... With its new 500, Fiat did not want to follow Smart's strategy
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