Mercedes to reduce production capacity in Germany
- 说明
Mercedes to reduce production capacity in Germany
- After Volkswagen announced that it wanted to reduce its production capacity in Germany by 734,000 vehicles per year, it is now Mercedes' turn to announce that it wants to reduce its own by 100,000 units, still in Germany, probably in Rastatt , where the A-Class, B-Class, GLA and EQA are produced, as the carmaker has announced that it will cease production of the A-Class and B-Class at the end of 2025.
- Mercedes' current production capacity in Germany is one million vehicles per year, distributed as follows: 350,000 in Bremen, 250,000 in Rastatt, 250,000 in Sindelfingen and 150,000 in Düsseldorf. The Rastatt site is therefore expected to increase from 250,000 to 150,000 vehicles per year from 2026. The total Mercedes GLA and EQA were produced in 2024 at 148,665 units, compared to 152,495 in 2023, but the carmaker does not rule out transferring part of this production to its Hungarian plant in Kecskemét where manufacturing costs are 70% lower according to it . In any case, the carmaker plans to reduce its workforce in Germany, without announcing the exact number. Mercedes also announced that it is transferring part of its German car production to its American plant in Tuscaloosa, specifically the production of models destined for the United States, in order to avoid the increase in customs duties on European imports decided by Donald Trump , which is expected to reach 25%.
- Finally, with Mercedes Group's global BEV sales down 23.1% in 2024, the carmaker announced that it was abandoning the idea of selling 100% electric vehicles by 2030, and that it would launch more petrol and diesel cars than 100% electric cars over the next five years, thus encouraging the transfer of part of the customer base from electric to thermal. Other carmakers have announced plans to follow this same strategy.
Will new BEVs under 30,000 euros revive the European market?
- 说明
Will new BEVs under 30,000 euros revive the European market?
- While in recent years, car prices have increased significantly and the offer of 100% electric models has tended to be around 35,000 to 50,000 euros (a Volkswagen ID3 costs 35,000 euros, a Tesla Model 3 costs 40,000 euros, a Tesla Model Y costs 45,000 euros), carmakers have announced that a number of them will launch 100% electric models for less than 30,000 euros to expand their range and meet a demand that cannot currently be satisfied. For several months, the launches of 100% electric cars under 30,000 euros have been accelerating, in line with these announcements. Let us mention the most representative models: Citroën e-C3 (23,300 euros to 27,800 euros) equipped with a 44 kWh battery, Fiat Grande Panda EV (24,900 euros) equipped with a 44 kWh battery, Renault 5 E-Tech (27,990 euros) equipped with a 40 kWh battery, Hyundai Inster (29,250 euros) equipped with a 49 kWh battery, Kia EV2 (price not communicated) equipped with a 49 kWh battery.
- Other models in this price range are expected to be launched in 2026, such as the Renault Twingo E-Tech, Volkswagen ID1/ID2, Skoda Epiq , and CupraRaval. Chinese carmakers will also be worth keeping an eye on, as they may invest in the market, despite their disadvantage of not being able to benefit from the ecological bonus. The Leapmotor T03 is already available in Europe, priced at €20,000, but this model was only released in 2024 in a thousand units.
- In any case, these new 100% electric models costing less than 30,000 euros will not be able to revive the European market as a whole.(they should represent only 7% of the European market in 2030), but they will be able to revive the European electric market which has not progressed since 2024. In 2030, BEVs as a whole could represent 35% of European production (passenger cars + light commercial vehicles) compared to 14% in 2024, 13% in 2023 and 10% in 2022.
Why the future Audi A6 will not be called the A7
- 说明
Why the future Audi A6 will not be called the A7
- Two years ago, the carmaker Audi announced a new way of naming its models. Before 2023, 100% electric models were called E- Tron in addition to their name beginning with an A for sedans, station wagons, coupes and convertibles, or with a Q for SUVs. From 2023, the new models launched by Audi have been grouped into two groups, those with an odd number for models with a thermal or hybrid engine (MHEV, Full-HEV, PHEV) and those with an even number for models with a 100% electric engine (BEV) nevertheless continuing to bear the additional name E- Tron (Q4 E- Tron , Q6 E- Tron , Q8 E- Tron , etc.).
- This is how we recently saw the appearance of the Audi A6 E- Tron (100% electric E-segment sedan) with an even number because it is powered by 100% electric power. According to the rule applied since 2023, the replacement for the Audi A6 with combustion engine should therefore have been called A7. The replacement for the Audi A4 with combustion engine was therefore called A5 to comply with this new rule of model naming. Since there was already an Audi A5, the new Audi A5 replaced both the old Audi A4 and A5.
- The future replacement for the combustion-engined Audi A8 was to be called the Audi A9, with only the electric version expected to retain the A8 name.
- But the carmaker has just decided to abandon this naming system and return to the situation before 2023. The replacement for the Audi A6 will therefore be called the Audi A6, the replacement for the Audi A7 will be called the Audi A7, and the replacement for the Audi A8 will be called the Audi A8. According to Inovev, this new change in the naming system for Audi models is due to the fact that the A5 name is a flop and the A7 and A9 names lack awareness, with the Audi A7 representing only 15% of Audi A6 sales on average in recent years. As for the Audi A9, it has never existed until now, and it is difficult to impose an unknown name. The new naming system introduced by Audi from 2025 will be much more flexible, as it will allow for E- Tron versions of all its models.
Kia to produce new EV2 electric model in Slovakia
- 说明
Kia to produce new EV2 electric model in Slovakia
- Like its compatriot Hyundai, the Korean carmaker Kia regularly completes its range of 100% electric cars, which began with the EV6 (D-segment sedan) measuring 4.68 m long and the EV9 (E-segment SUV) measuring 5.01 m long. Last year, the EV3 (C-segment SUV) measuring 4.30 m long was added. These three models are based on the same e-GMP platform shared by Hyundai, Kia and Genesis. In 2025, another model will be added to these three 100% electric models on the same platform. This is the Kia EV2 (B-segment SUV), which takes the style of the Kia EV3 but in more modest proportions (4.00 m long) but is a little more imposing than those of its compatriot, the Hyundai Inster (3.83 m), which has a different appearance.
- This new model is part of the series of 100% electric compact models offered in Europe for less than 30,000 euros, which have been launched since last year by carmakers, such as the Citroën e-C3, Renault 5 E-Tech, Fiat Grande Panda EV, Hyundai Inster which will soon be joined by the Renault Twingo, Skoda Epiq , CupraRaval, Volkswagen ID1 and ID2.
- In the Kia range, the EV2 will replace the comparable-length combustion-engined Rio, which was withdrawn from the European market last year. It will be equipped with a choice of an LFP battery, providing a WLTP range of 300 km, or an NMC battery, providing a WLTP range of 450 km.
- Kia will produce the EV2 in Europe, at its Slovakian plant in Zilina, from autumn 2025, in response to the ambitions of Chinese carmakers who want to establish themselves in Europe today. The carmaker is counting on an initial volume of 80,000 units per year and then 100,000 per year, which seems very ambitious. Kia should then increase the production capacity of its Zilina plant, currently set at 300,000 vehicles per year. In 2024, this plant produced 287,000 cars ( Ceed , XCeed , ProCeed , Sportage ).
Chinese carmakers sold 402,000 cars in Europe (30 countries) in 2024
- 说明
Chinese carmakers sold 402,000 cars in Europe (30 countries) in 2024
- Chinese carmakers sold 402,000 cars in Europe (30 countries = EU + United Kingdom + Switzerland + Norway) in 2024 compared to 353,000 in 2023 and 248,000 in 2022. These figures do not include Russia. We saw in a previous Auto-Analyse that Chinese carmakers had sold 943,500 cars in Russia in 2024, or 1,343,500 units on the continent Europe + Russia, a record figure for Chinese carùakers. While they hold 61% of the Russian market in 2024, they only hold 3.1% in Europe 30 countries where competition is much stronger, since it brings together European, American, Japanese and Korean carmakers (which is no longer the case in Russia where all these carmakers have withdrawn).
- The Chinese carmaker that sold the most vehicles in Europe (30 countries) last year was SAIC Group, which sold 242,532 cars, including 241,624 MGs. It was well ahead of the three main independent Chinese carmakers: BYD (48,587 cars sold in Europe under various brands), Chery (43,787 cars sold in Europe under various brands), and Geely (42,669 cars sold in Europe under various brands, excluding Volvo). The other carmakers each sold fewer than 10,000 cars in Europe in 2024, with Xpeng and Great Wall as the leaders.
- Western carmakers, for their part, sold 205,000 cars imported from China , mainly Tesla (108,975 Model 3s), Smart (25,012 #1s and #3s), Dacia (20,845 Springs ), Mini (19,224 Acemans and Cooper Es) and BMW (13,892 iX3s).
- In total, 607,000 cars imported from China were sold in Europe (30 countries), representing 4.7% of