Will the Jaguar brand enter a new era?
- 说明
Will the Jaguar brand enter a new era?
- For four years, the British luxury brand Jaguar (owned by the Indian Tata Motors) has been put on hold since no new models have been presented during this period. This pause was voluntarily decided by the company's management to prepare the transition to a new era for the brand, characterized by a new, more upscale positioning, between the German Premium Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and the British Super Premium Aston-Martin, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, i.e. in a price range between 150,000 and 200,000 euros. In addition, this new positioning is accompanied by a generalization of fully electric motorization.
- Finally, the style of future Jaguars wants to differentiate itself from everything that currently exists, just as the old XJ6 launched in 1968 differentiated itself from its competitors by its innovative lines. Let's remember that Jaguar's first market is China and that this country attaches a lot of importance to the style of automobiles in general. In December 2024, Jaguar gave a first glimpse of its new style by unveiling its 00 concept, a battery electric two-door coupe whose square lines with a low roof and removed rear window are unlike anything known. A battery electric sports sedan inspired by this concept should be unveiled in 2025 and marketed in 2026.
- The sales figures announced by the brand for the years 2026-2030 will no longer have anything to do with those of the years 2005-2025, given its new positioning and should be around 10,000 units per year.
- Until 2026, the current Jaguar range, reduced to the E-Pace, F-Pace, I-Pace SUVs, will continue to be marketed to the public with no doubt heavy discounts to be able to sell off stocks more easily since their production will cease at the end of December. The British factory in Solihull, which is being reconfigured, will be the production site for the future battery electric Jaguars, the first one being a 4-door GT.
The new battery electric Toyota Urban Cruiser will be produced in India
- 说明
The new battery electric Toyota Urban Cruiser will be produced in India
- The Japanese carmaker Toyota, following the agreements signed with Suzuki, has just presented its own version derived from the Suzuki e-Vitara unveiled last month. It is called Urban Cruiser, a traditional name at Toyota. Its engine is battery electric, like the Suzuki e-Vitara. This 4.29 m long SUV (1 cm more than the e-Vitara) is thus a competitor to the Kia EV3, Renault 4 E-Tech, Peugeot e-2008, Citroën e-C3 Aircross and Opel e-Frontera. It is located in the B segment, but at the limits of the C segment, as a Toyota Yaris Cross hybrid in the same segment is 14 centimeters shorter. Its wheelbase is 2.70 m like the Suzuki e-Vitara. Its weight is of the same order as that of its twin brother and competitor, namely 1,700 kg in front-wheel drive and 1,900 kg in all-wheel drive (incorporating a second electric motor and a larger battery).
- The entry-level Urban Cruiser model uses a 49 kWh LFP battery and a front-mounted electric motor delivering 144 hp. This version will offer nearly 320 km of autonomy according to the WLTP cycle. The mid-range Toyota Urban Cruiser uses a 61 kWh LFP battery, as well as a 174 hp electric motor that drives the front wheels. The top-of-the-range Toyota Urban Cruiser, meanwhile, combines the same 61 kWh battery with two electric motors (one on each axle) delivering 184 hp that drive all four wheels. This version would offer 400 km of autonomy according to the WLTP cycle. These are nearly the same characteristics as the Suzuki.
- The Toyota Urban Cruiser – which is the brand's fourth battery electric vehicle after the BZ4X, ProAce and ProAce City – will be produced in India from spring 2025, in the same factory as the Suzuki e-Vitara. It is in fact a Suzuki factory, the one located in Gujarat, which assembles the Baleno, Ignis, Jimny, Vitara and whose production capacity reaches 750,000 units per year.
- Like the Suzuki e-Vitara, the Toyota Urban Cruiser is intended for international markets, including Europe.
Fiat plant in Kragujevac (Serbia) starts production of the Fiat Grande Panda
- 说明
Fiat plant in Kragujevac (Serbia) starts production of the Fiat Grande Panda
- While the launches of the Citroën C3, Citroën C3 Aircross and Opel Frontera had to be postponed by several months due to technical problems encountered on these models based on the new "Small Car" platform closely derived from the Stellantis models assembled in India, the launch of the Fiat Grande Panda (unveiled in July 2024 and based on this same "Small Car" platform) will take place as planned, in January 2025. This model will begin production at the Fiat site in Kragujevac (Serbia), which had temporarily ceased production after the Fiat 500 L production was stopped. Inovev is forecasting 150,000 units per year of the new Fiat Grande Panda, 40% of which will be electric versions over the next few years.
- The Fiat Grande Panda will first be marketed in a battery electric version (the most expensive version) and then an MHEV version should appear during the summer of 2025. This second version, cheaper than the battery electric version, will certainly be the best-selling.
- Remember that the Grande Panda (B-segment sedan) will not put an end to the original Fiat Panda (A-segment sedan), which should continue its career until 2030 according to information from Stellantis. The Fiat Panda, powered only by petrol engines, will still be produced at the Italian site in Pomigliano, near Naples, and will represent Fiat's entry-level model in Europe since the Fiat 500 with a combustion engine was stopped this fall.
- As for the electric Fiat 500, its production temporarily stopped in October 2024 - due to a lack of orders - should not resume until January 2025, according to information from Stellantis. The future hybrid version of the Fiat 500 is eagerly awaited by the network because the discontinuation of the thermal and electric Fiat 500s is creating a major loss of revenue for the brand.
Renault Kardian begins production in Morocco
- 说明
Renault Kardian begins production in Morocco
- Founded in 1959, the Renault Group plant in Casablanca (Morocco), SOMACA, has been entirely owned by Renault since 2019. This plant, which should not be confused with the one in Tangier, has just started assembling the Renault Kardian compact SUV already produced in Brazil. This B-segment model with a low-cost modular platform intended for non-European markets is, let us recall, derived from the Dacia SanderoStepway.
- Today, the Renault plant in Casablanca produces the Dacia Logan and Sandero, at a rate of 95,000 units in 2022 and as many in 2023, compared to 74,000 in 2021 and 68,000 in 2020. These quantities are in addition to the 288,000 cars produced in Tangier in 2023 (mainly Dacia Sandero and Renault Express vans).
- Renault and Dacia remain the sales leaders in the Moroccan passenger car market (39% market share in 2023), which represented 145,000 units in 2023, 143,000 in 2022, 154,000 in 2021 and 117,000 in 2020. It is therefore a stable market that is not challenging for Renault or Dacia. However, Renault thought it was wise to diversify its offering on the Moroccan market with a more SUV-type model, the Kardian, cheaper than a Captur (the Kardian should not be exported to Europe).
- Due to a production capacity limited to 120,000 vehicles per year, the Renault plant in Casablanca could produce between 25,000 and 30,000 Kardians per year, provided that this model does not take too much on Sandero sales.
- In 2025, Morocco should produce 520,000 cars, including 280,000 in Tangier (Renault), 120,000 in Casablanca (Renault) and 120,000 in Kenitra (Stellantis).
BMW plant in Debrecen (Hungary) to start production at the end of 2025
- 说明
BMW plant in Debrecen (Hungary) to start production at the end of 2025
- The BMW assembly plant in Debrecen (Hungary) will finally start up at the end of 2025, producing a new generation of the BMW iX3, a battery electric D-segment SUV.
- It should be remembered that the current electric iX3 has been assembled in China since 2020 in a factory owned by its historic partner Brilliance, recently renamed Shineray. It is sold worldwide and could continue to be produced and sold in China after the launch of the new generation of the iX3 produced in Europe at the end of 2025 (It should be noted that the current battery electric iX3 is derived from the X3 model produced in the USA since 2010 and still currently).
- The new version of the iX3 will differ from the fourth generation of the BMW X3 (G45) assembled in the USA and launched in Europe in June 2024 because it will adopt a new platform dedicated to the carmaker's battery electric vehicles and a new style inspired by the "NeueKlasse" unveiled last year and seen again at the 2024 Paris Motor Show last October.
- The name "NeueKlasse" refers to the first BMW 1500 designed by designer Michelotti and presented in 1961 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which marked a new beginning for the Munich brand after difficult years.
- The success of the future iX3 will depend mainly on the success of electric SUVs in Europe from now to 2030. The current generation produced in China at 45,000 units in 2021, 64,000 in 2022, 71,000 in 2023 and 50,000 in 2024 was mainly sold in China. The future iX3 will therefore have to expand its scope to Europe.