Mexico produces fewer passenger cars and more light trucks in 2018
In 2018, Mexican production of passenger cars declined sharply, while Mexican production of commercial vehicles (SUVs, minivans and pickups) grew strongly, as can be seen in the two graphs below.

Over the first eight months of 2018, Mexican passenger car production declined by almost 25%, while at the same time, light commercial vehicles grew by almost 25%. Overall, all Mexican production remained stable at + 0.1%.

The explanation for these two reverse trends is that exports to the United States (which account for 80% of Mexican production) are changing, with exports of passenger cars (sedans) down 20%, and exports of light commercial vehicles (SUVs, minivans and pick-ups) having increased by 18%.

Indeed, the US market is increasingly abandoning sedans (sales are down 13% in the first 8 months of 2018) while demand for light trucks increases significantly (sales are up 9% over the first 8 months of 2018).

In the first eight months of 2018, Mexico exported 1.46 million light trucks to the United States (compared to 1.24 million in the first eight months of 2017) and 688,000 sedans (compared with 864,000).

In total, Mexican exports to the United States (all vehicles combined) grew by 2% in 2018 compared to last year.


    
 

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German production suffers from the WLTP standard in August 2018
As can be seen in the graph below, German automobile production fell sharply in August 2018, compared to August 2017 and even August 2016, as the Volkswagen group (Germany's largest car manufacturer) underwent difficulties in adapting all of its models to the new WLTP standards this summer, and had to interrupt production for several days.

As a result, its production volume decreased from 192,000 passenger cars in August 2017 to 162,000 units in August 2018, representing a drop of nearly 16% or 30,000 vehicles.

Other manufacturers, such as Mercedes and BMW, have also been affected by the temporary shutdown of some of their models, particularly plug-in hybrid models that do not meet WLTP standards.

Lastly, in August 2018, German production suffered from the decline in confirmed vehicle orders for September 2018, this decrease in orders being directly linked to the anticipated purchases made in June-July-August 2018 due to the change in standards in September 2018.

In total, Germany's production volume fell by 31.5% in August 2018 compared with August 2017 to 310,400 units compared with 452,800 the previous year. The situation should return to normal before the end of the year.


    
 

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Global car market growth continues unabated
Since the global market rebounded in 2010, following the economic and financial crisis in 2008-2009, the global market has grown steadily for over eight years.

It went from 61 million units (PC+LCV ) in 2009 to 81 million in 2012 and 91 million in 2016. Last year, it stood at 93 million units and according to Inovev figures for the first eight months of 2018, it could increase by almost 3% this year, which would augur a market greater than 95 million units. Growth is however slowing, as sales grew 20 million units in three years, between 2009 and 2012, and only 10 million units in four years, between 2012 and 2016, and will not increase by 10 million more units before 2021.

On the graph below, we can observe this slight slowdown in the growth of global sales between 2010 and 2018. We also observe a seasonality of sales which is relatively well respected from year to year, with a peak of sales in March of each year and a sales dip in August of each year.

Global growth is driven mainly by China, as it accounts for 50% of the  growth between 2010 and 2018, and now accounts for one third of global sales (25% in 2010). The US accounts for 25% of global growth over the period. These two countries account for 75% of global growth.


    
 

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GAC exhibited models at the Paris Motorshow
Guangzhou Automobile Co. (or GAC) is the sixth largest Chinese car manufacturer. It produced 1,365 million vehicles in 2017, of which 500,000 under its own brand Trumpchi (in 2012, it was 400,000 and 90,000 respectively). GAC does not export cars, except for the few Honda Jazz it produces under license for certain European markets. Honda has helped GAC become a notable manufacturer in China.

GAC chose the Paris Motorshow to present its models at a European show for the first time . It has not yet set a launch date in Europe and has decided to postpone its introduction to the United States to 2020, because of the current trade war between the two countries.

Today, the GAC brand is distributed in 15 foreign countries (in Asia, the Middle East and Africa) but the bulk of sales in 2017 and 2018 have been in China.

GAC is exhibiting its small electric SUV, the Ge3, launched in China last year, at the Paris Motorshow. It has a range of 400 km, according to Chinese calculation standards. More importantly, the Paris show gave GAC the opportunity to reveal a brand new model, the GS5, a large SUV nearly 4.70 m long, with a petrol engine of 1.5 l turbo 166 hp. The brand, which launched its first model in 2011, has adopted a mid-range positioning.


    
 

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Vinfast exhibited its two models at the Paris Motorshow
The only Vietnamese car manufacturer Vinfast, created in 2018, exhibited its two models at the Paris Motorshow for the first time. This OEM  based in Hanoi, belongs to the construction and real estate group Vin Group led by its founder. To give birth to its automotive branch, Vin Group has hired former leaders of the automotive sector, including from GM USA. Vin Group has partnered with Magna-Steyr for engineering and with Pininfarina for model design. It uses old platforms and engines of the BMW brand. Thus, the two models on display, the SUV LUX SA 2.0 and the sedan LUX A 2.0 are derived from BMW X5 and Series 5 of the previous generation. These models, with the same 4-cylinder petrol 2.0 turbo engine (developing 176hp for the sedan and 231hp for the SUV), will first be reserved for the Vietnamese market from September 2019, then will be for sale in other markets.

The Vinfast models are sufficiently different from the BMW models so that we can not confuse them, which is why it is not impossible that these vehicles be sold in markets where the BMW brand is present today.

However, given the difficulty of growing  a new brand globally, it is not at all sure that Vinfast will succeed quickly.

The automaker has, however, announced that the  plant it is building near Hanoi will have a capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year.


    
 

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