Renault Product Plan (2020-2023)
- Details
Renault Product Plan (2020-2023)
- The Renault 2020-2023 product plan has been made public. After a very successful year in 2019 in terms of innovations (Clio V, Zoé II, Captur II), the Billancourt manufacturer will carry out mid-life restyling of the Mégane(C segment sedan) and Talisman (D segment sedan) in 2020, with the Mégane to be replaced in 2023. As for the Talisman, it seems that it will have no follow-ons.
- In 2020, there will also be the launch of the Kangoo III, which will at last succeed the previous one, whose origins date back to 2007. The new Kangoo should be built on the platform of the Dacia Dokker which shall be renewed in the same year. Renault will also launch the hybrid versions of the Clio, Captur and Mégane in 2020. Only the Captur and Megane will be rechargeable (Plug-In). At the end of the year, the restyled version of the Scenic should appear.
- The year 2021 will be the year of the launch of the Kadjar II, which will have to do better than the Kadjar I in terms of sales, as it has remained well behind the Peugeot 3008.
- The year 2022 will be the year of the launch of the Twingo IV, which should abandon the particular architecture of the Smart (transferred to China at the same time) and return to a front engine. Koleos III is expected to be launched in the same year.
- In 2023, Renault plans to launch a small electric vehicle called Zandar, which would take over the platform of the K-ZE electric car recently introduced in China and derived from the Indian Kwid. This product plan does not mention the launch of the C-segment electric sedan that Renault has planned to launch in the early 2020s. Perhaps it will be postponed to 2024 or it has been deleted so as not to interfere with Nissan Leaf's sales.
Contact us: info@inovev.com
Ford USA has not produced a single Focus since the beginning of the year
- Details
Ford USA has not produced a single Focus since the beginning of the year
- Ford has not produced a single Focus since the beginning of 2019, although this model constituted a large part of the manufacturer's North American production during the years 2000-2015 (approximately 200,000 units per year with a peak of nearly 300,000 in 2012 and 2013). The Ford Focus, which was traditionally one of the top 10 best-selling sedans in the United States, dropped to 18th place in 2019 and its replacement has not been scheduled to date.
- Ford no longer has a C-segment sedan on the North American market, which is a unbelievable, considering that this C-segment sedan market still represents 11% of the total market in the United States, all vehicles combined.
- The Focus is undoubtedly a victim of the trade war between China and the United States, since Ford had planned to manufacture the new generation of the Focus presented in 2018 in China, and thus no longer at the American site in Wayne (Michigan).
- However, the sharp increase in taxes on Chinese products sold in the United States made this operation very delicate, as the Focus would no longer have been competitive in terms of price. The transfer of the Focus to China was therefore simply postponed.
- The few Focus cars sold in the USA in 2019 came from the 2018 production stock.
- It should be noted that GM also stopped production of its C-segment sedan, the Chevrolet Cruze, in March 2019, leaving the way clear for Japanese and Korean brands, an un expected bonus for them. Fiat-Chrysler was the first to discontinue its C-segment sedans (Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200) in 2017.
Contact us: info@inovev.com
Read more... Ford USA has not produced a single Focus since the beginning of the year
Moroccan passenger car production increased by 3.4% in the first half of 2019
- Details
Moroccan passenger car production increased by 3.4% in the first half of 2019
- Moroccan passenger car production increased by 3.4% in the first half of 2019, while it increased by 2.3% over the whole of 2018, a slow growth rate due to the ageing of the Dacia Lodgy and Dokker.
- These two models did not meet Renault-Nissan’s objectives, since sales are half as much as the manufacturer had hoped, i.e 150,000 sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2018. Renault has responded by steadily increasing the production volume of Sandero, in Tangiers, the same plant as the Lodgy and Dokker, while reducing the production volume of Sandero in the Romanian plant in Pitesti. Today, the Sandero accounts for nearly half of the production volume observed at the Tangier site. However, the Lodgy and Dokker should be renewed in 2020.
- Another much older production site, Casablanca, also produces Sanderos, and Logans for the local market. In 2018, this site manufactured 80,000 cars.
- The third and most recent Moroccan production site has just started its activity this summer. This is the Kenitra site, which, unlike the other two, is a PSA site that produces the new generation of Peugeot 208s, and will also produce the new generation of Peugeot 301s and Citroën C-Elysée next year, which will be stopped at the Vigo site in Spain when the 2008 Peugeot arrives there.Moroccan automotive production is therefore expected to continue to increase in the coming years, rapidly reaching 500,000 units per year.
Contact us: info@inovev.com
Read more... Moroccan passenger car production increased by 3.4% in the first half of 2019
Indian passenger car production fell by 8.4% in the first half of 2019
- Details
Indian passenger car production fell by 8.4% in the first half of 2019
- Indian passenger car production fell by 8.4% in the first half of 2019 to 1.94 million units, compared with a steady increase since 2014. In 2018, it had increased by a further 1.7% (to 4.08 million units) compared to 9.5% in 2017 (to 4.01 million units). A slowdown was therefore noticeable already last year.
- In fact, the growth in production volume in India went into negative territory as early as November 2018 (see graph below). Since then, this growth has continued to be negative, except in January 2019, which was slightly positive. The production volume for the whole of 2019 will therefore be well below 4 million units.
- The future remains problematic because world markets are on a downward trend, even if the Indian market imports only a very small quantity of cars, due to very high taxes reserved for imported cars.
- Exports account for about 17% of India's production of passenger cars. These vehicles are mainly exported to ASEAN countries by six manufacturers: Ford, Hyundai, Suzuki, GM, Nissan and VW. ASEAN countries are increasingly imposing import restrictions, favouring locally produced or assembled vehicles. In addition, in some markets, such as Sri Lanka, the growth of the second-hand market competes with the sale of new vehicles imported from India.
- In the first six months of 2019, Indian automotive exports did not exceed 339,000 units (PC ) compared to 357,000 in the same period of 2018, a decrease of 5.0%.
Contact us: info@inovev.com
Read more... Indian passenger car production fell by 8.4% in the first half of 2019
US passenger car production fell by 2.2% in the first half of 2019
- Details
US passenger car production fell by 2.2% in the first half of 2019
- US passenger car production according to the European definition (i.e. including SUVs and minivans) fell by 2.2% in the first half of 2019, whereas it had already fallen by 1.7% over the whole of 2018 and by 7.8% over the whole of 2017. These sub-standard performances are mainly due to the decline in deliveries of cars manufactured in the USA and exported mainly to Canada, Mexico, China and even Europe, following the decline in world markets in 2018, which worsened in 2019. The US market managed to remain stable over the same period.
- The United States exports mainly German cars (Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes), particularly to China, where taxes on imported cars have increased significantly, in response to the increase in taxes on Chinese products imported into the United States. The trade war between the United States and China has therefore had as its first victims the German cars produced in the United States...
- Given that the US market is likely to decline in the coming years, due to the rise in car prices due to the rise in raw material prices, another consequence of the trade war between China and the United States, and due to a downward cycle following an eight-year upward cycle, production volume is expected to decline in the coming years. Donald Trump's proposals for relocations to the USA have had little impact, since the volume of US production remains lower in 2017, 2018 and 2019 than in 2015 and 2016.
Contact us: info@inovev.com
Read more... US passenger car production fell by 2.2% in the first half of 2019
Inovev platforms >