Toyota increases its stake in Subaru to 20%
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Toyota increases its stake in Subaru to 20%
- The Toyota group has taken a slightly larger stake in its compatriot Subaru, increasing its share in the capital of Japan's smallest manufacturer from 17% to 20%. Toyota already owns 5% of Suzuki's capital, 5% of Mazda's capital, 6% of Isuzu's capital, not to mention Lexus and Daihatsu, which it owns 100%, and Hino (heavy goods vehicles), where it owns 50.1%.
- It can be seen that Toyota now has one foot in every Japanese manufacturer, except Nissan (43% owned by Renault), Mitsubishi (34% owned by Nissan) and Honda, which has maintained its independence.
- By acquiring a 20% stake in Subaru, the Toyota group confirms its interest in this Japanese manufacturer, which is ten times smaller than Toyota (1 million sales per year compared to 10 million for Toyota) but which has an original personality with its boxer engines (flat engines), all-wheel drive transmissions and its strong presence in the United States.
- It is obvious that Subaru cannot, because of its size, fight for a long time alone against its much more powerful competitors. It is the survival of the brand that is at stake and no other manufacturer has expressed an interest in acquiring Subaru, although a Chinese manufacturer's takeover was a possible scenario that could have materialized in the 2020s.
- Toyota and Subaru are already working together on the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ models. Other joint projects are, according to these manufacturers, under study.
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Sales of electric cars in China are up in 2019 but down in the last few months
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Sales of electric cars in China are up in 2019 but down in the last few months
- Vehicle sales in China fell for the 14th consecutive month in August 2019, with a decline of 6.9% on a total of 1.96 million units, but less than the decline observed over the first eight months of the year as a whole (-11% on a total of 16.10 million units).
- The SUV segment, which had been growing strongly during the last decade until 2018, but was down over the first 8 months of 2019, experienced a small increase of 1.5% in August 2019. The SUV segment was right behind the sedan segment in August (747,000 units versus 777,000).
- The electric car category (BEV and PHEV) fell by 15.8% in August 2019 to 85,000 units, including 69,000 BEV (-6%) and 16,000 PHEV (-41%). This decrease confirmed in September (-24.5% including -29.8% for BEVs and -38.8% for PHEVs) due to the decrease in aid granted by the Chinese government to this type of vehicle. It should be recalled that the Chinese government has reduced this aid in order to focus all its efforts on the installation of new charging stations, because after subsidizing the development of Chinese brands of electric cars, the Chinese government now wants to instore some order in this market while supporting demand by increasing the number of charging stations, which is one of the main factors in the development of this market.
- However, the electric car market in China remains largely positive over the first nine months of 2019, at 871,838 units, compared with 649,356 units in the first nine months of 2018, an increase of 34.5%.
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Read more... Sales of electric cars in China are up in 2019 but down in the last few months
PSA will produce the future 301 and C-Elysée in Algeria from summer 2020
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PSA will produce the future 301 and C-Elysée in Algeria from summer 2020
- The PSA group is building an assembly plant in Algeria, near Oran, near the plant that Renault built a few years ago. This new plant is part of the manufacturer's plan to establish a long-term presence in Africa. Since last summer, PSA has had a plant in Morocco (Kenitra) and a plant in Tunisia (El-Mghira), the former producing Peugeot 208s and the latter pick-ups of Chinese origin.
- The new plant located in northwest Algeria is expected to reach a production capacity of 75,000 vehicles per year, according to the manufacturer. This plant will therefore be the same size as Renault's in the same region.
- From summer 2020, this new plant will manufacture the new generations of Citroën C-Elysee and Peugeot 301 (the current models are manufactured in Vigo, Spain), most of which will be sold in the various North African markets.
- With the Moroccan plant in Kenitra, the PSA group will have an annual production capacity of 275,000 vehicles in North Africa, while Renault produced 472,683 cars in the region last year (402,086 in Morocco and 70,597 in Algeria).
- But PSA is not only setting up in North Africa, since the French manufacturer also has a factory in Kenya (1,000 cars produced in 2019 and 15,000 futures units), and plans to set up in Namibia (5,000 cars per year), Nigeria (10,000 cars per year) and Ethiopia (1,000 cars per year).
- It should be noted that the Algerian market grew by 30.6% in the first half of 2019, to 75,400 units for all brands combined.
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Read more... PSA will produce the future 301 and C-Elysée in Algeria from summer 2020
Seat will release its version of the VW ID 3 from 2020
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Seat will release its version of the VW ID 3 from 2020
- As of 2020, the Seat brand will be marketing its own version of the Volkswagen ID 3, which was unveiled at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. The two models produced at the Zwickau site (East Germany), where the Trabants were once manufactured, will therefore be marketed at the same time, starting in the second half of 2020.
- The Seat (provisionally called El Born) will be a little cheaper than the Volkswagen, and an even cheaper version, sold this time under the Skoda brand, should be unveiled in the coming weeks and released at the same time as the Seat and Volkswagen.
- According to the photos provided by Seat, the El Born is very close aesthetically to the ID 3, since the bodies are identical. The differences are mainly located on the front panel in order to preserve the identity of each brand.
- This strategy is similar to that used for Volkswagen Group A segment cars, namely VW Up, Seat Mii, and Skoda Citigo, and this strategy seems to have been chosen because of the still low volume of sales forecasts for Volkswagen Group electric cars until 2025, since we are talking about 50,000 units all brands combined in 2020 and 150,000 units per year in 2024, i.e. less than the average sales volume of VW Up, Seat Mii, Skoda Citigo combined.
- The El Born has a power of 150 hp or 204 hp and a range of 330km or 420km according to the WLTP cycle. The batteries are placed in the double floor, under the passenger seats. The price will be less than 40,000 euros.
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Read more... Seat will release its version of the VW ID 3 from 2020
Iranian automotive production has dropped 50% since late 2018
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Iranian automotive production has dropped 50% since late 2018
- Automobile production in Iran has been suffering since October 2018 (see graph) from the shock of the severe economic sanctions imposed by Western nations, and first and foremost by the United States of America.
- The average level of 120,000 units produced per month then collapsed to 80,000 units in November and December 2018, then to 60,000 units per month from January to August 2019, i.e. half the volume recorded a year earlier.
- The brands most affected are the French brands that accounted for most of the local production (more than 40% of the total in 2017) and which have now officially ceased production, under pressure from the US government, even if a small quantity of vehicles are still manufactured from internal or external stocks.
- The PSA group is the most affected of all the manufacturers in Iran, as their shortfall will be around 300,000 to 400,000 units in 2019, and this scenario could be repeated in subsequent years, if the Trump administration maintains or strengthens these sanctions that impact all Western companies operating in Iran.
- If production volume remains at the current rate in Iran, the country will only produce about 700,000 vehicles compared to 1,400,000 two years ago. Of these 700,000 vehicles, half will leave the factories of Iran Khodro and Saipa (national brands) compared to 42% two years ago. Chinese brands will produce 20% of the total, compared to 14% two years ago. French brands will only account for a quarter of Iranian production (thanks to stocks) compared to 42% two years ago.
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Read more... Iranian automotive production has dropped 50% since late 2018
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