Tata Motors purchased the former Ford Indian plant
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Tata Motors purchased the former Ford Indian plant
- The Indian manufacturer Tata Motors (owner of the British brands Jaguar and Land Rover) owns its own brand in India, which markets passenger cars and utility vehicles, including heavy goods vehicles (Tata Motors is the largest producer of heavy goods vehicles of the region).
- Generally, Tata Motors produces about as many passenger cars as commercial vehicles, except that over the past two years, passenger car sales have grown significantly to account for 57% of Tata Motors' production in India in 2022, thanks to the success of its recent small SUVs Nexon and Punch. As a result, Tata Motors' factories reached saturation in 2022, with just over 900,000 vehicles produced in India for a production capacity set at 900,000 units per year. Given that Tata Motors expects further organic growth in 2023-2024, it has decided to buy Ford's Indian plant (located in Sanand), the American manufacturer having decided to withdraw from the Indian market two years ago. years. The Ford factory, which has a production capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year (this figure having been reached only once in 2017), will allow Tata Motors to rehire its staff and be able to produce 300,000 more vehicles from 2023-2024, or 1.2 million vehicles in total. This is both a good move for Tata Motors and Ford.
- The largest manufacturer in India remains Maruti-Suzuki which produced 1.9 million vehicles in 2022, ahead of Hyundai-Kia which produced just over 1.0 million units. Mahindra produced only 0.6 million vehicles last year.
Ineos announces that it wants to produce 30,000 vehicles per year in Hambach
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Ineos announces that it wants to produce 30,000 vehicles per year in Hambach
- The Smart factory in Hambach (France) belonged to Mercedes since 1998. The German manufacturer decided to sell it when the project to install the 100% electric EQB model there was abandoned (it will ultimately be produced in Kecskemét in Hungary). The Smart Fortwo (thermal then 100% electric) which has been manufactured there since 1998 will cease production in April 2024. New, completely different and 100% electric Smarts are manufactured in China in a Geely factory located in Ningbo (Zhejiang), following an agreement between Mercedes and Geely (50/50 JV).
- The British firm Ineos bought the French Hambach factory from Mercedes in 2021. As a result, the Ineos Grenadier (a sort of old-generation Land Rover Defender) is manufactured on the same assembly lines as the 100% electric Smart Fortwo. The two models are however the opposite of each other, the Grenadier being a large SUV with a thermal engine measuring 4.90 m long, the Smart being a small coupe with a 100% electric engine measuring 2.70 m long.
- Even if Ineos has committed to taking over 1,300 jobs out of the 1,500 on the site, the production capacity of the Hambach factory has been set at 30,000 vehicles per year and no longer 150,000 per year as under the Mercedes era.
- Manufacturing of the Grenadier started in October 2022. Eight months later, the factory reached the end of the production ramp-up in one shift, or 75 vehicles per day (15,000 per year). In July 2023, it began setting up a second team with a goal of full capacity by the end of the year, i.e. 150 vehicles per day (30,000 per year).
- To date, 5,000 Grenadiers have been produced and the objective is to reach 15,000 units in 2023 and 30,000 in 2024.
Inovev plans 75,000 units per year of the new Smart #3
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Inovev plans 75,000 units per year of the new Smart #3
- Smart (a subsidiary of Mercedes and then of the 50-50 Mercedes-Geely JV) has started producing in China (Ningbo), at Geely, the new Smart #1 which is a 100% electric four-door segment B sedan measuring 4.27 m long, very different from the 100% electric two-door Smart Fortwo in segment A, 2.70 m long, which nevertheless continues to be produced in France (Hambach) until April 2024. As for the 100% electric Smart Forfour four doors of segment A of 3.50 m long, it ceased to be produced in 2022.The Smart #1 can be considered as its replacement.
- At the 2023 Munich Motor Show, Smart presented its new #3, 4.44 m long, which places it in the C segment. This model produced in China (Ningbo) will undoubtedly be more suited to the Chinese market which prefers C-segment cars to B-segment cars. On the other hand, in Europe, B-segment is still in high demand and competition is tough in C-segment. And the price of the Smart #3 will likely be quite high, as the price of #1 range from 40,000 to 45,000 euros depending on the version. In the best case, price should be set set in the range 45,000 to 50,000 euros. However, a Volkswagen ID4 is valued between 45,000 and 50,000 euros, and a higher segment Tesla Model 3 (D-segment) is purchased between 42,000 and 50,000 euros. A Renault Megane E-Tech costs 38,000 euros in its basic version. As for Chinese manufacturers, an MG 4 costs 30,000 euros in its basic version. The mission of the Smart #3 will be to revive the brand's production, which has fallen to 43,000 units in 2022, compared to 145,000 in 2016 and 123,000 in 2019. Inovev plans 75,000 units per year of the new Smart #3 produced in China.
Inovev plans 50,000 units in 2027 and 70,000 in 2030 of the new Renault Scenic E-Tech
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Inovev plans 50,000 units in 2027 and 70,000 in 2030 of the new Renault Scenic E-Tech
- Renault is gradually completing its 100% electric so-called E-Tech range. After the Megane E-Tech launched last year and the R5 E-Tech launched next year, here is the Scenic E-Tech presented at the 2023 Munich Motor Show which will be marketed in 2024.
- It is a C-segment SUV derived from the Megane E-Tech (it is therefore no longer a minivan like the Scenic marketed from 1996 to 2023). It will therefore take over the CMF-EV platform dedicated to 100% electric compact cars from the Renault group, as well as the electric motor and battery from the Megane E-Tech. Like it, the Scenic E-Tech will be manufactured on the French site of Douai (Hauts de France). Compared to the Megane E-Tech, it will be a bit like the ID4 is to the ID3 at Volkswagen.
- This 100% electric Renault Scenic will have to try to revive sales of a model which has seen its influence decline at great speed over the last twenty years, going from 350,000 units in 2005 to 150,000 in 2008, 100,000 in 2015 and 6,000 in 2022. Inovev expects production of 50,000 units in 2027 and 70,000 in 2030.
- The Scenic E-Tech measures 4.47 m long, 1.86 m wide and 1.57 m high, compared to 4.20 m, 1.86 m and 1.51 m for the Megane E-Tech. The wheelbase is 10 cm longer than that of the Megane E-Tech. The Scenic E-Tech engine is available in two power ratings: 125 kW (170 hp) and 160 kW (218 hp). The battery has a capacity of 60 kWh allowing a range of 420 km or a capacity of 87 kWh allowing a range of 610 km of range according to the WLTP cycle. In 2022, Renault produced 46,722 examples of its Megane E-Tech in Douai, which roughly corresponds to the manufacturer's objectives.
China's vehicle imports fell by 18% in 2022
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China's vehicle imports fell by 18% in 2022
- Sales of imported vehicles in China in 2022 decreased by 18% compared to the previous year to reach 769,286 units, marking the third consecutive year of decline since 2020. This phenomenon is notably due to the drop in imports from Germany and Japan, as China now producing most of the German and Japanese cars sold on its soil. We must also take into account the sluggish growth of the Chinese economy due to the resurgence of the new coronavirus, the impact of the global shortage of semiconductors and the sharp rise in raw material prices.
- European vehicle imports fell 18.3% year-on-year to 530,033 units. The market share of European brands decreased by 0.2 points to 68.9%, continuing to hold almost 70% of the imported vehicle market compared to the previous year.
- Japanese carmakers' imports fell 15.3 percent from a year earlier to 223,142 units, but their market share increased slightly to 29.0 % of total imports from 28.1 percent a year earlier.
- Due to the impact of the pandemic and tensions between the United States and China in various areas, sales of American automobile carmakers continued to decline sharply, down 43.4% year-on-year, to 13,935 units. As a result, the United States' share of the imported vehicle market fell further, from 2.6% to 1.8% compared to the previous year. US vehicle imports peaked in 2014 at 174,000 units. Korean imports represent only 0.3% of total imports, compared to 0.2% in 2021.