Japanese passenger car production increased by 2.2% in the first half of 2019
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Japanese passenger car production increased by 2.2% in the first half of 2019
- Japanese passenger car production increased by 2.2% in the first half of 2019, while it had fallen by 0.2% over the full year 2018. The volume of automotive production in Japan has stagnated since 2013, at a level close to 8 million units. This situation is the result of the sluggishness of the Japanese market for many years and the continuous development of transplants on foreign soil.
- Over the first six months of 2019, production volume reached 4.27 million passenger cars, compared with 4.18 million units in the first six months of 2018, but it is not clear that the gap will remain positive at the end of the year, given the expected further decline in world markets.
- In addition, the current difficulties of the Nissan group, which is experiencing a worldwide sales decline, will have an impact on the volume of its production in Japan.
- The American government's desire to encourage Japanese manufacturers to produce more Japanese cars on American soil, in order to reduce the number of imports that it considers too high, has had little impact on Japanese manufacturers’ behavior so far.
- The rare "relocations" to Japan also have little impact on overall Japanese production. An example is the Suzuki Swift, which was previously manufactured in Hungary. The Honda Civic manufactured today in England and Turkey will also return to Japan in 2021 (about 150,000 units per year).
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Chinese passenger car production fell by 15.8% in the first half of 2019
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Chinese passenger car production fell by 15.8% in the first half of 2019
- Chinese passenger car production fell by 15.8% in the first half of 2019, after having already fallen by 5.1% over the whole of 2018. This decline was the first in about 20 years, and it is therefore likely to be repeated in 2019, according to figures recorded in the first half of the year. This decrease in production observed this year is the direct consequence of the decline in the Chinese market, of the same order of magnitude. China imports few cars and also exports very few cars. In the first half of 2019, China accounted for 26% of global PC production.
- We can see on the graph that the decline in the Chinese market really began in June 2018 and has not stopped since. This decline has even tended to increase since the autumn of 2018. It is not easy to know whether the Chinese government has allowed this market decline to occur and whether it will be able to decide when the market will recover, in short, whether the market is under control or not. However, it seems likely that the Chinese market will no longer experience double-digit growth over the next decade.
- Over the first six months of 2019, it can be seen that 100% Chinese manufacturers are more affected by the drop in production (-21.4%) than foreign manufacturers (-11.7%). They now account for only 39.5% of production compared to 42.5% a year earlier.
- The largest increases were recorded by the Premium Borgward (+94%), Volvo (+27%), BMW (+15%) and Mercedes (+13%) brands. The largest decreases were recorded by the DS (-97%), Lifan (-91%), Renault (-76%), Soueast (-74%), Jiangling (-71%), Ford (-65%), Peugeot (-62%), Suzuki (-56%) and Citroën (-55%) brands.
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Inovev forecasts 40,000 new Chevrolet Corvettes per year
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Inovev forecasts 40,000 new Chevrolet Corvettes per year
- Chevrolet (a division of the General-Motors group) has presented the new generation of the Corvette. This is the ninth generation of a sporty model with origins dating back to 1953.
- The ninth generation completely shatters the Corvette's former spirit, as it switches from a front engine to a middle-rear engine, such as that of the Honda NSX, Lamborghini, McLaren, or some of the Ferrari models.
- As a result, the model's silhouette changes completely, from a long hood with the cabin pushed back to a short hood with the cabin pushed forward.
- It remains to be seen whether potential customers will embrace this new architecture and new silhouette. GM took the risk of changing everything because the last generation of Corvette’s sales dropped from 46,000 units in 2014 to only 18,000 in 2018. The previous concept may have been completely worn out.
- However, the new Corvette still has its atmospheric 6.2 V8 engine, this time developing 495 hp. It is placed just behind the passenger compartment, for optimal weight distribution and better stability on the road.
- The manufacturer announces a competitive price for this ninth generation Corvette, nearly $60,000 ($4,000 more than its predecessor but $30,000 less than a Porsche 911). This model will continue to be produced at the Bowling Green, Kentucky site. Inovev expects 40,000 annual sales for the new Chevrolet Corvette.
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Russian passenger car production increased by 2.1% in the first half of 2019
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Russian passenger car production increased by 2.1% in the first half of 2019
- Russian passenger car production increased by 2.1% in the first half of 2019, compared with 15.3% for the full year 2018. This slowdown in output growth is explained by the sharp slowdown in the Russian market, the main outlet for Russian production, since the country's exports remain practically non-existent.
- With a Russian market down by 2.4% in the first six months of 2019, compared to an increase of 12.8% in 2018, local production follows the same trend. However, local production is less affected than imports, which fell by 16% in the first six months of 2019; indeed, these imports have been falling steadily since 2013, on the recommendation of the Russian government, in response to the economic sanctions imposed against Russia by Western countries : -9.5% in 2013, -18.4% in 2014, -49.6% in 2015, -18.5% in 2016 and -11.3% in 2017.
- The Russian market is therefore increasingly dependent on Russian production and vice versa. As a result, if the decline in the Russian market continues, Russian production growth will tend increasingly towards zero. When the Russian market picks up again, the volume of Russian production will increase a little faster than the market growth, as imports will remain at a very low level, as will exports.
- In the first six months of 2019, Russia produced 780,000 cars, compared with 763,000 in the same period of the previous year. It should produce 1.5 million cars over the whole of 2019 (slightly less than in 2018).
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The Indian market is down 8.8% in the first half of 2019
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The Indian market is down 8.8% in the first half of 2019
- The Indian automotive market is one of the most promising in terms of sales, since India's motorization rate is still very low compared to the population, one of the densest in the world. From 3.2 million units in 2014, the Indian market had grown to 4.4 million in 2018. Unfortunately, the Indian market turned down in November 2018 and the decline worsened in April 2019. In the first half of 2019, the Indian market fell by 8.8%.
- At this rate, the Indian market could fall to 4 million units (VP+VU) in 2019. This decline is in a context of general decline in registrations worldwide (-7.1% in the first half of 2019), but the Indian market has declined more than the world market over the period.
- Among the most affected automakers is the leading Suzuki, which lost 100,000 sales in the first six months of 2019, from 900,000 to 800,000 units over this period. Its market share remains very high, but falls from 40% in 2018 to 39% in 2019. Its competitors Tata Motors (15%) and Hyundai-Kia (12%) maintain their market share. Mahindra gains almost one point of market share (12%). The other manufacturers are far behind and remain stable.
- It should be noted that India is one of the major markets that buys the least SUVs, since these models are at only 19% of the Indian market, half as much as the percentage observed in the other major markets. The sedan, and even the small sedan (segments A and B), accounts for 75% of registrations, which is atypical in the global market.
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