Nedcar has not produced BMWs or Minis since January 2024
- Details
Nedcar has not produced BMWs or Minis since January 2024
- The BMW group (BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce) ended in January 2024 the contract with the Dutch company Nedcar for the production on its Born plant of various BMW and Mini models.
- This plant is formerly the factory that produced DAFs between 1967 and 1976, then Volvos between 1976 and 2001. In 2001, the factory was completely bought by Mitsubishi, which had already owned 33% of this factory since 1991. This factory assembled in particular the Mitsubishi Carisma and its Volvo S40/V40 derivatives, the Mitsubishi Colt and its Smart Forfour derivatives as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander and its Peugeot 4007/Citroën C-Crosser derivatives. In 2012, Mitsubishi sold the Nedcar factory for a symbolic euro to the VDL group. All production then ceased on the site.
- From 2014, the BMW Group entered into an agreement with Nedcar, which will produce Minis until 2023, as well as Countrymans and BMW X1s from 2017. In January 2024, production of these models will cease definitively. The Nedcar factory is in the same situation as in 2013. No more models are assembled on this plant and no contracts have been signed with a major carmaker.
- The termination of the contract with BMW, which ran until 2030, was motivated by the difficult conditions of the automobile market and the overcapacity of the European automobile industry. The factory, which has assembled a total of more than 5.5 million cars since its debut, is now working on the transition that will allow it to move from being a car producer to a global partner for sustainable mobility. This transition involves the loss of 2,000 jobs out of 2,500.
Production of the VW Polo has been stopped in Europa at the beginning of July 2024
- Details
Production of the VW Polo has been stopped in Europa at the beginning of July 2024
- Volkswagen announced that it had ended on July 2, 2024 the production in Europa of its B-segment sedan, the Polo,, which dates back to 1975 but has been renewed many times since then.
- This important model in Volkswagen's European range had for a long time floated around 300,000 annual sales (notably between 2005 and 2018), establishing itself as one of the brand's best-selling models in Europe behind the Golf and the Passat. But the development of B-segment SUVs (T-Roc in 2017) had reduced its influence within the carmaker's range. The final blow was delivered by the launch in 2018 of the T-Cross SUV, the same format as the Polo. Polo sales then collapsed, dropping from 300,000 units in 2018 to 170,000 in 2020 and 100,000 in 2023.
- The carmaker did not wait for the Polo's agony, which could have lasted another two or three years, and preferred to stop production of the model at the Pamplona site in Spain at the beginning of summer 2024. Polo sales until the end of the year will be made from stock.
- Volkswagen is doing the same thing as Ford Europe, which a few months ago eliminated its B-segment sedan, the Fiesta, focusing its efforts on the Puma, a B-segment SUV based on the Fiesta. Volkswagen will therefore focus its efforts on its B-segment SUVs such as the T-Cross and the Taigo. But the Polo should have a descendant around 2026, namely the ID2, which will be a battery electric B-segment sedan. We can wonder why the carmaker did not wait until then to stop the Polo.
The European car market grew by 4.5% in the first half of 2024
- Details
The European car market grew by 4.5% in the first half of 2024
- The European automobile market (30 countries = EU + United Kingdom + Switzerland + Norway) for passenger cars increased by 4.5% in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023. This is a slowdown in growth because this market had grown by 13.7% in 2023 compared to 2022. And we are still far from the figures reached in 2019, since the gap between the first half of 2024 and the first half of 2019 is more than one million fewer passenger cars.
- If the market trend is maintained until the end of the year, we will reach a volume of 13.4 million passenger cars compared to 15.8 million in 2019 and 15.6 million in 2018. But this will already be better than the 12.8 million passenger cars reached in 2023, the 11.3 million reached in 2022, the 11.8 million in 2021 or the 12 million reached in 2020.
- But according to Inovev, it is not certain that what was observed in the first half of 2024 will continue in the second half. This market is indeed suffering from an upmarket move because the price of cars has increased significantly and small, inexpensive cars have gradually disappeared one after the other. In addition, the arrival of battery electric vehicles has resulted in the arrival of expensive cars at a time when the purchasing power of Europeans is stagnating.
- In this context, the Volkswagen group remains the market leader with 25.6% of market share ahead of Stellantis (16.6%) and Renault (9.8%). Next come the Hyundai-Kia groups (8.2%), Toyota (7.6%), BMW (6.8%), Mercedes (5%) and Ford (3.3%), which is becoming a second rank carmaker. It should be noted that all Japanese carmakers represent 14.5% of the European market, far ahead of Korean (8.2%) and Chinese (2.8%) carmakers.
Volvo to produce EX30 in Belgium from September 2025
- Details
Volvo to produce EX30 in Belgium from September 2025
- The Swedish brand Volvo (a subsidiary of the Chinese group Geely) has announced that it will produce its battery electric B-segment SUV, the EX30, in Ghent, Belgium, from September 2025, for models intended for the European market, while today the EX30 is produced entirely in China.
- The partial transfer of the EX30 production had already been considered since the launch of the model in 2023, but new events have accelerated this decision, in particular the cessation in certain countries of ecological bonuses concerning BEVs imported from regions outside Europe and the additional taxes announced by the European Commission on BEVs imported from China.
- Some Chinese carmakers have decided to build assembly plants on the European continent to produce their BEVs there, but Volvo already has two assembly plants located in Europe, one in Sweden (the historic site) and one in Belgium (opened in 1965).
- The other reason for the acceleration of the decision to transfer production of the EX30 is that the success of the model in Europe is higher than expected, as more than 8,000 have been sold per month since April 2024 and could therefore sell 100,000 over the whole year (three times more than expected). This success may be explained by the positioning of the model which does not exceed 4.23 m and whose price starts at 37,500 euros while carmakers favour BEVs of more than 4.50 m whose price exceeds 40,000 or even 45,000 euros.
Fisker stops automobile production
- Details
Fisker stops automobile production
- After accumulating increasing financial difficulties which culminated in its bankruptcy in June 2024, the Californian company Fisker announced the end of production of its battery electric Ocean model manufactured at Magna Steyr in Graz in Austria. This is the second time that Fisker has gone bankrupt, the first dating from 2013 and leading to the end of the battery electric Karma.
- The causes of Fisker's second bankruptcy are multiple, but as for the first bankruptcy, we can argue that sales of the Ocean model did not meet the objectives, especially since this model seemed more expensive than the competing models (Tesla, Volkswagen, Chinese brands), while the electric market itself is stagnating in Europe. Additionally, the Ocean's software suffered frequent crashes, which could render the car unusable.
- Despite this, Fisker sold a total of 8,805 Ocean models worldwide between 2022 and 2024 with production reaching 10,142 vehicles. Many orders have been canceled and the 1,337 unsold models will be sold off so that the company can repay part of its creditors. The price of a Fisker Ocean started last year at 43,000 euros, reaching 58,500 euros for the best-selling version and 71,000 euros for the most expensive version. Currently, Ocean models are offered at half price to help liquidate inventory and recover cash.
- Despite its current difficulties, it is not impossible to think that the Fisker brand could rise a third time from its ashes in the more or less near future, undoubtedly in a different form.
Inovev platforms >