Inovev forecasts 100,000 units per year of the new Fiat 500 MHEV
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Inovev forecasts 100,000 units per year of the new Fiat 500 MHEV
- The Stellantis group has presented the new Fiat 500 Hybrid (actually an MHEV), production of which has just started at the Italian site of Mirafiori, near Turin, alongside the battery electric Fiat 500 marketed since September 2020. The model, which is based on the STLA City platform and the body of the battery electric Fiat 500 and not on the pure thermal Fiat 500 marketed from 2007 to 2024 (length = 3.63 m compared to 3.57 m for the Fiat 500 petrol), is equipped with a 1.0 micro-hybrid petrol engine (48V - MHEV).
- The Fiat 500 petrol was discontinued in 2024 due to the obsolescence of its technical base and the inability to comply with the new European GSR2 (General Safety Regulation 2).
- But the battery electric Fiat 500, launched in 2020 and developed on a new basis, has not managed to win back all of the customers of the old Fiat 500 petrol, mainly due to a question of price (an electric Fiat 500 was worth 30,400 to 33,900 euros in 2024 while a Fiat 500 petrol did not exceed 18,700 euros).
- This is why cumulative sales of the Fiat 500 petrol and electric models fell from 191,000 units in 2023 to 102,000 units in 2024, including 68,000 Fiat 500 pure thermal models (2/3 of sales) and 34,000 Fiat 500 battery electric models (1/3 of sales). This sales drop of the Fiat 500 resulted of an overall sales decline for the Fiat brand in Europe last year. The launch of a Fiat 500 hybrid (a technology that has been a huge commercial success in Europe) is therefore crucial. It was also highly anticipated.
- Fiat announces a target of 100,000 sales per year, a figure corroborated by Inovev in its 2025 edition of the Enginevev document published in May 2025.
Mercedes has decided to shift part of GLC production to the United States
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Mercedes has decided to shift part of GLC production to the United States
- In response to the threat of US tariffs on European car imports, Mercedes announced that it was considering producing an additional model at its US plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This plant currently produces the Mercedes GLE (E-segment), EQE (E-segment), GLS (F-segment), and EQS (F-segment) SUVs for the world, as well as the Sprinter pickup truck for the US market. The Tuscaloosa plant produced 335,515 vehicles in 2024, with a production capacity of 350,000 units per year.
- Inovev's analysis showed that the most logical solution was to produce the Mercedes GLC SUV at this plant, in addition to the five models mentioned above, because the Mercedes GLC (D-segment SUV) is the brand's most imported vehicle from Europe to the United States: 64,163 units in 2024 out of a total of 201,194 imported Mercedes vehicles.
- The German automaker has just announced that the additional model to be produced at the Tuscaloosa site will indeed be the GLC SUV for North American markets. To achieve this, the plant will need to increase its production capacity from 350,000 to 400,000 units per year, making it one of Mercedes' largest factories. Production of the GLC in the USA is expected to begin in 2027.
- The consequence of this transfer is that the Bremen site, the original production location of the Mercedes GLC, will lose between 60,000 and 65,000 vehicles per year, which will have an impact on vehicle production volumes in Germany and Europe. It should be noted that the GLC is also produced in China, but this version is not exported to the United States.
Inovev forecasts a production volume of 40,000 new Jeep Compass SUV per year in Europe
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Inovev forecasts a production volume of 40,000 new Jeep Compass SUV per year in Europe
- Jeep (one of the many brands of the Stellantis group ) has presented the new generation of its C-segment SUV, the Compass, which succeeds the model launched in 2017 and facelifted in 2021. The new generation comes in a more statutory and imposing style, its length increasing from 4.40 m to 4.55 m, or 47 cm more than the small Jeep Avenger SUV, which leaves room between the two for a future Renegade (the current Renegade is at the end of its life).
- The new Jeep Compass is based on the STLA Medium platform already used on the Peugeot 3008/5008, Opel Grandland and the new Citroën C5 Aircross which has just been presented. Its engines are available in micro-hybrid (MHEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery electric (BEV) as for the new Citroën C5 Aircross. The power outputs are slightly different from those of the Citroën, since 142 hp (104 kW) are announced for the 1.2 MHEV version, 191 hp (140 kW) for the 1.6 PHEV version and 155 kW, 167 kW, 272 kW for the various BEV versions.
- For the various battery electric versions, two NMC batteries are marketed, one with a capacity of 73 kWh, allowing a range of 500 km according to the WLTP cycle, the other with a capacity of 97 kWh, allowing a range of 650 km according to the WLTP cycle. These batteries are produced by the company ACC (Automotive Cells Company ) located in Douvrin. The various engines are all front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
- The new Jeep Compass will be produced at the Italian plant in Melfi for European demand, at an average rate of 40,000 units per year. It will be also produced in Mexico and Brazil for respectively the North and South American markets.
With the same population, India produces 6 times fewer vehicles than China
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With the same population, India produces 6 times fewer vehicles than China
- China and India are now the two most populous countries in the world, with more than 1.3 billion inhabitants each, according to the latest census. However, the volume of their car fleets is very different, as in China, with a fleet of 348 million vehicles, meaning 258 vehicle per 1,000 inhabitants (a proportion half that of Europe or the United States), while in India, with a fleet of 54 million vehicles, there are 42 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants (a proportion six times lower than that of China). This situation reflects a significant difference in terms of societal choices, purchasing power and automotive infrastructure.
- Last year, China produced 31 million vehicles (PC + LUV) while India produced just over 5 million, mainly for their local market. The gap between the two countries (number of vehicles produced in China divided by number of vehicles produced in India) which was 3 to 1 in 2005 (China = 3, India = 1) increased to 8.5 to 1 in 2020, but since then, this gap has gradually reduced to 6 to 1.
- China's development plans, growing middle class wealth, and infrastructure improvements—especially since 2005—have all contributed to the country's growth in motorization, while this trend has been much slower in India. It is clear that India will struggle to catch up with China in the coming years, if not decades. Closing the gap between the two countries to 3:1 would be a spectacular achievement for India.
- Furthermore, China has developed an acceleration strategy for electrification and artificial intelligence in the automotive sector, while India is still in its early stages. It can be added that China is a C/D segment vehicle market, while India is more of an A/B segment vehicle market.
New Mazda 6: Rebranded model of Changan
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New Mazda 6: Rebranded model of Changan
- The Mazda 6 is a D-segment sedan that succeeded the Mazda 626 in 2002. Three generations followed until 2024. The growing demand for SUVs pushed the Japanese carmaker to launch several vehicles of this type from 2001, but it was especially from 2012 with the launch of the Mazda CX5 that the share of SUVs in the carmaker's sales increased considerably, causing at the same time the collapse of sales of the brand's sedans, first and foremost the Mazda 6 offered in the same price range, whose distribution fell from 295,000 units in 2008 to 260,000 in 2013, 170,000 in 2016, 70,000 in 2020 and only 30,000 in 2024.
- At the same time, the total number of Mazda SUVs increased from 120,000 to 780,000 units per year.
- The Mazda 6, produced in Japan, China, and the United States for their domestic markets, collapsed in the same way everywhere. Mazda could have cancelled this model without replacing it. For 2025, however, the Japanese carmaker decided to give it one last chance. But the model completely changes its philosophy.
- The new Mazda 6 remains a sedan, but it becomes battery electric, has a hatchback and is based on a Chinese sedan, the Changan SL03 (Changan is Mazda's Chinese partner which produces its cars in China). This 4.92 m long model (therefore at the limit of the E segment) produced and sold only in China, under the name Mazda AZ-6 and in Europe under the name Mazda 6 e. In Europe, it has an 80 kWh NMC battery while in China it receives a 58 kWh LFP battery. The price of the Mazda 6 e in Europe will be around 40,000 euros (20,000 euros in China).