Category Blog

詳細: 上で公開 2019年09月30日

Why Mercedes transferred the production of the B-Class to Rastatt

- The first generation of the Mercedes B-Class compact MPV was produced at the Rastatt site in Germany from 2005 to 2011. The second generation was produced in Rastatt from 2011 to 2014. Its production was transferred in 2014 to the new Hungarian plant in Kecskemet that Mercedes had just built.

- The third generation of the B-Class launched at the end of 2018, for a marketing campaign that began in the first weeks of 2019, has been transferred again from the Kecskemet site to the German site in Rastatt.

- So much so that today the Rastatt site produces the Class A hatchback, Class B and GLA, while the Kecskemet site has been home to the new generation of Class A hatchbacks and tri-corps since the beginning of 2019, and the CLA sedans and station wagons which have been produced there since their launch.

- As there are expected to be as many Mercedes Class B cars in Rastatt as there are Class A cars in Kecskemet, there will be no decrease in production in either Rastatt or Kecskemet, as the manufacturer plans to manufacture 300,000 cars in Rastatt (100,000 Class A, 100,000 Class B, 100,000 GLA) and 200,000 cars in Kecskemet (100,000 Class A, 100,000 CLA) each year.

- The capacity of the Rastatt plant is currently 300,000 units per year while that of Kecskemet is 250,000 units per year. In the event of higher than expected demand for the future GLA, the German manufacturer will have the possibility to transfer part of the Class A produced at Rastatt to Kecskemet and thus use the remaining capacity.

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続きを読む... Why Mercedes transferred the production of the B-Class to Rastatt

詳細: 上で公開 2019年08月21日

Renault's Korean plant produces more Nissans than Samsungs

- The Korean Samsung conglomerate decided to diversify into the automotive sector in the 1990s . In 1994, it signed an agreement with the Japanese OEM Nissan (at the time still independent) to manufacture Nissan cars under licence at its Busan site.

- Car production started at this site in 1998, a few months before the financial crisis that would impact all of Southeast Asia. This crisis seriously affected Samsung’s automotive activities, which went bankrupt and were bought by the French OEM Renault in 2000. The latter had just bought Nissan the previous year. As Samsung vehicles were re–badged Nissans, it was logical for the same manufacturer to acquire both Nissan and Samsung.

- Unfortunately, Samsung (SM3, SM5, SM7) did not have the anticipated success and production at the Busan plant (with a capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year) fell rapidly from 275,000 units in 2010 to 130,000 units in 2013.

- To save the plant, the Renault-Nissan group decided to produce Nissan Rogue cars at the Busan site. Production of this model, exported mainly to North America, began in 2014 and quickly became the most produced model in Busan, accounting for 57% of the plant's production in 2015, 56% in 2016 and 50% in 2018.

- Since 2015, the Busan plant has been producing more Nissans than Samsungs. The production of Renault badged models (Koléos) remains marginal (less than 10% of the plant's production). As for Samsung, despite the renewal of SM6,and QM6 models, sales have not improved. As a result, the future of the Samsung brand remains very uncertain.

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続きを読む... Renault's Korean plant produces more Nissans than Samsungs

詳細: 上で公開 2019年08月21日

Registrations

The European market fell 3.1% in the first half of 2019

- The European automotive market (29 countries) fell by 3.1% in the first six months of 2019, compared to the first six months of 2018, to 8.42 million passenger cars (light commercial vehicle sales will be available at the end of July). Western Europe (17 countries) fell by 3.5% and Central and Eastern Europe (12 countries) grew by 1.4%.

- The decline in the European market is part of a global decline in most world markets (China, USA, India, Russia, Turkey, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, etc.). After several years of growth, the European market (like other markets) seems to be stabilizing, but first, the next two months will be strongly negative because last year, the months of July-August, which benefited from mass sales of cars to old standards, were very high, and second, over the period 2020-2021, the economic (expected slowdown in global growth) and political (Brexit, impact of trade tensions between China and the USA) indicators point to a slower European market.

- The Geely Group (+2.0%), which owns the Volvo brand, is the only manufacturer to grow on the European market in the first half of 2019, thanks to the XC40 SUV. Other automakers‘ sales declined: Hyundai-Kia Group (-0.4%), Toyota Group (-1.0%), PSA Group (-1.2%), BMW Group (-1.2%), Daimler Group (-1.4%), Tata Group (-1.5%), VW Group (-3.7%), Renault-Nissan Group (-5.4%), Ford Group (-6.8%), FCA Group (-9.3%). Inovev expects a 2.3% decline in the European PC market over the whole of 2019.

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続きを読む... The European market fell 3.1% in the first half of 2019

詳細: 上で公開 2019年08月21日

BMW launches the Electric Mini

- BMW unveiled the production version of the electric Mini, which will be produced at the British site in Cowley (Oxford) as of the fourth quarter of 2019 and marketed starting the first half of 2020.

- In 2008, BMW had previously designed an electric Mini, the Mini E, and 450 were manufactured, with the objective of testing the batteries and collecting feedback from selected customers.

- Today, the Electric Mini is based on the current internal combustion engine, Mini, and benefits from the progress made over the past ten years on batteries and electric motors, as well as from the experience acquired on the BMW i3 launched in 2013.

- The Electric Mini was launched 60 years, almost to the day, after the launch of the first Mini which at the time was marketed under the Austin and Morris brands.

- The electric Mini advertises a range of 235 to 270 kilometers (WLTP cycle). By way of comparison, the new Peugeot e-208 claims a range of 340 kilometres (WLTP cycle).

- Inovev estimates that BMW could sell 50,000 electric Mini cars each year.

- In response to the launch of the Electric Mini, the FCA group announced the upcoming launch of the Electric Fiat 500, scheduled for the first half of 2020. This model will be manufactured exclusively at the Italian Mirafiori site, which has been operating at a slower pace for decades. FCA's objective is to sell 80,000 Fiat 500 electric vehicles per year.

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続きを読む... BMW launches the Electric Mini

詳細: 上で公開 2019年08月21日

The US market fell by 2.4% in the first half of 2019

- The US automotive market was down 2.4% in the first six months of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. It should be noted, however, that the commercial vehicle market (which includes minivans and SUVs in the United States) remained up 3.2% over this period (5.945 million units), while the passenger car market continued to decline sharply, to -13.6% (2.475 million units).

- As a result, light trucks now represent 70.6% of the American market, which is the highest figure since the beginning of the automobile industry in the United States. SUVs alone represent 49% of the American market, nearly one sale out of two.

- The overall decline in the US market in 2019 follows a 0.5% increase in 2018 compared to 2017, which was one of the best years in history for the United States (17.33 million units). However, it seems that the US market will not exceed 17 million units in 2019.

- Among the most affected brands are: Fiat (-38.4%), Chrysler (-27.3%), Alfa-Romeo (-26.3%), Smart (-23.7%), Mini (-22.3%), Mazda (-15.5%), Infiniti (-12.6%), Jeep (-7.8%), Nissan (-7.7%) and Mercedes (-7.0%). In summary, the FCA, Renault-Nissan, Daimler and BMW groups had a particularly disappointing first half.

- The brands that managed to grow were Genesis (+37.8%), Ram (+28%) and Tesla (+23.4%). Apart from Tesla, the Hyundai-Kia and Volkswagen groups as well as Subaru are the only ones to grow in 2019.