Ford could eventually leave Europe
- 说明
Ford could eventually leave Europe
- Inovev has been saying for several years that the Ford group could eventually disengage from the European market, like their compatriots Chrysler (in 1978) and General Motors (in 2017).
- Like GM, Ford's market share has steadily declined over the last twenty years (6.7% in 2018 compared to 11.5% in 1995) and the manufacturer is constantly reducing size by successively closing down a number of its European plants (Dagenham in 2002, Southampton in 2011, Genk in 2014) and selling brands such as Volvo, Jaguar or Land Rover. In addition, Ford ended its partnership with Fiat on the Ka and reduced its cooperation with PSA on diesel engines. Finally, in 2018 Ford became the smallest of the general manufacturers in Europe.
- In Europe, Ford produces mainly in Germany, a country with high labor costs, and moreover produces low margin B and C segment cars, unlike the more profitable large pickups and large SUVs that it produces in the United States.
- One would have thought that the PSA group would eventually get their hands on Ford Europe, as it did for Chrysler Europe and GM Europe. In fact, the Volkswagen group, which would have been directly threatened in Europe by such a merger, has just signed a draft agreement with Ford, with fairly vague boundaries, but which could eventually herald the takeover of Ford of Europe by the Volkswagen Group.
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Changan starts construction of its Nanjing plant
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Changan starts construction of its Nanjing plant
- Chinese automaker Changan has started construction of its Nanjing plant, which will specialize in electrified vehicles (HEV, PHEV, BEV) from its first SOP in June 2020. The plant will be able to produce up to 240,000 electrified vehicles per year. Changan plans to assemble SUVs, the most popular category in China, but also high performance sedans and coupes. In addition to the assembly lines, the site will also include a research and development center dedicated to electrified vehicles.
- The Nanjing project is part of Changan's "Shanghri-La Mission" strategy, which aims to build three factories for electrified vehicles and halt the sale of thermal engine models starting in 2025.
- Changan is currently the second largest independent Chinese car manufacturer in terms of sales and production, behind Geely which became the first Chinese automaker in 2016. Changan delivered 1,315,000 vehicles in 2017, of which only 61,000 electric (BEV) cars and hybrid rechargeable (PHEV) cars. It must accelerate its production of electrified models to meet the quotas that China will impose on automotive manufacturers in 2019. Next year, Changan is expected to sell 150,000 electrified vehicles and more in the following years. By 2025, Changan's goal is to offer 21 electric models and 12 rechargeable hybrids, for a complete line up of 33 different electrified models.
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Inovev expects production of 50,000 units per year from the new Volvo S60
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Inovev expects production of 50,000 units per year from the new Volvo S60
- Volvo (a subsidiary of the Geely Group) unveiled the new generation of the S60 sedan (D-segment), just months after unveiling the new V60 station wagon. Unlike the V60 wagon, which is manufactured at the Ghent site in Belgium, alongside the V40 and XC40, the S60 sedan, much less popular on the European market than the V60 wagon, will be manufactured at the new Volvo site in Charleston, in the USA ,which will be its first market.
- The Swedish manufacturer takes advantage of the fact that the Europeans prefer to buy the Volvo estate and that the Americans prefer to buy the Volvo sedans to distribute the S60 and V60 production according to the tastes of the customers. Note that for Volvo E segment, production is also separated between sedans and station wagons, since the S90 sedan is produced in China and the V90 in Sweden.
- The engines of the S60 are: no diesel but petrol engines, such as the T5 (250hp) and T6 (310hp), as well as rechargeable hybrids T6 Twin Engine (340hp) and T8 Twin Engine (390hp) all derived 2.0 petrol.
- The competitors of the Volvo S60 are mainly Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3 Series, Audi A4, Jaguar XE, Lexus IS and Alfa Giulia. Inovev expects a production of 50,000 units per year on the Charleston site, including 35,000 for North America and 15,000 for Europe. The S60 will be produced in China for local demand.
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阅读全文... Inovev expects production of 50,000 units per year from the new Volvo S60
Inovev expects 125,000 annual sales for the new Audi A1
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Inovev expects 125,000 annual sales for the new Audi A1
- Audi (a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group) has unveiled the next generation of its B segment sedan, the A1, whose origins date back to 2010. More than 900,000 Audi A1s have been manufactured since that date.
- The new Audi A1 is based on the MQB-A platform already used by the recent Volkswagen Polo, Seat Ibiza and Seat Arona. It does not rely on the platform MQB-B that uses the Audi Q2 and the Volkswagen T-Roc. The new Audi A1 is a little longer (4.03m), a little wider (1.74m) and a little bit lower (1.41m) than the old A1.
- Notably, the new Audi A1 will no longer be manufactured on the Belgian site of Forest, but on the Spanish site of Martorell, alongside the Seat ... and Audi Q3 whose production should however stop this autumn, at the time of the presentation of the new generation of Q3 (which will be manufactured on the Hungarian site of Gyor).
- The production transfer from the Audi A1 from Forest to Martorell will be offset by the arrival of the Audi Q6 electric in 2019. Other Audi electric models are expected to be produced on the Belgian site in the years 2020-2022.
- The engines of the new Audi A1 are: no diesel but 1.0 TFSI (3-cylinder) petrol engines of 95hp and 115hp, 1.5 TFSI (4 cylinders) of 148hp and 2.0 TFSI (4 cylinders) of 197hp. Note that the 3-door version will not be renewed. Inovev expects 125,000 annual sales of the new Audi A1.
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阅读全文... Inovev expects 125,000 annual sales for the new Audi A1
Opel produces less than Porsche in Germany in 2018
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Opel produces less than Porsche in Germany in 2018
- For the first time in its history, Opel produced less than Porsche on German territory in 2018. According to the figures calculated by Inovev for the first five months of the year, Opel produced 106,000 cars during this period while Porsche has produced 111 000. Over the year, Opel will produce 250 000 cars while Porsche will produce more than 260 000 cars.
- In the year 2000, Opel was a big producer in Germany, since the brand that was still GM's subsidiary at that time was producing 650,000 cars while Porsche made only 32,000 cars.
- The decline in Opel's production in Germany reflects the brand's loss of influence on the European continent (its market share fell from 10.5% in 2000 to 5.7% in 2018) and also the result of its successive relocations (to Spain and Poland in particular) which ultimately led to the closure of the German Bochum plant in 2014.
- For its part, Porsche, acquired by the Volkswagen Group, continued to expand its range, resulting in the launch of two SUVs (Cayenne and Macan) and a sedan (Panamera), while avoiding relocation to low labor cost countries. The manufacture of the Boxster and Cayman was even relocated in Germany in 2011 (from the Valmet plant in Finland). The transfer of Opel Grandland from Sochaux to Eisenach in 2019 could, however, help the Opel brand to produce a little more than Porsche next year.
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