Smart adds to its range a 4.70 m long SUV
- 说明
Smart adds to its range a 4.70 m long SUV
- The Smart brand (a Mercedes subsidiary) is rebuilding its battery electric range with the help of China's Geely. Since 2023, we've seen the launch of the 4.27 m-long #1 (B-segment SUV) and the 4.40 m-long #3 (C-segment SUV), followed by the discontinuation of the Fortwo (A-segment sedan) in April 2024, which put an end to the 2.50 m to 2.70 m-long A-segment minicars in Europe. The Smart brand therefore chose to abandon the A segment (given the numbering of its models) and concentrate on the B and C segments.
- Today, the Smart brand wants to go further upmarket, unveiling a 4.70 m long D-segment SUV named the #5, again with an electric engine. Like the #1 and #3, this large SUV is produced in China, using the same SEA platform. The Smart #5 is available in four versions, two with 340 hp / 363 hp rear-wheel drive (RWD) and two with 587 hp / 646 hp all-wheel drive (AWD). The unladen weight of all versions will exceed 2 tones.
- The carmaker claims a range of 700 km in the Chinese CLTC cycle, equivalent to just over 600 km in the European WLTP cycle. Rear-wheel-drive versions are equipped with lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, while all-wheel-drive versions feature nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) technology. Although their capacity is not yet official, the biggest is expected to be equipped with 100 kWh battery pack.
- The Smart #5 will be available on the European market in 2025, even with the handicap of the additional taxes announced by the European Commission. Sales figures for the new Smart "made in China" remain mixed, with 8,000 sales in Europe in the first five months of 2024 (including 6,000 #1 and 2,000 #3), compared with 8,600 Fortwo sales in the first five months of 2023. In China, the start of the Smart's career seems equally timid, with sales not exceeding 15,300 units in the first five months of 2024, representing 0.7% of the BEV market in China over the period.
Inovev forecasts 300,000 units per year worlwide of the new BMW X3 SUV
- 说明
Inovev forecasts 300,000 units per year worlwide of the new BMW X3 SUV
- The Bavarian carmaker BMW has just unveiled its new D-segment SUV, the X3, which replaces the previous model which was launched in 2017.
- The first BMW X3 dates back to 2004, and was produced in Graz, Austria (at Magna-Steyr), as the carmaker did not have enough production capacity in Germany to produce the model. But in 2010, it was transferred to North America, along with the E-segment X5, at the Spartanburg site in South Carolina. At that time, around 150,000 units a year were produced, mainly for the USA and Europe. Gradually, however, the X3 was also exported to China.
- In 2018, following growing demand in China, the third-generation X3 was also produced there for local demand, at a rate of around 130,000 units a year. Since 2020, Chinese X3 production has been higher than American production. Finally, the X3 has also been assembled in South Africa since 2017.
- The new BMW X3, based on the CLAR platform, is a competitor to the Mercedes GLC and Audi Q5. It is 5 cm longer than the previous generation, reaching 4.75m. It is also 3 cm wider (1.92 m) and 1 cm lower (1.66 m). Its powertrains are carried over from the previous generation, namely a 2-liter MHEV gasoline engine, a 2-liter MHEV diesel engine and a PHEV plug-in hybrid engine. The battery electric version (BEV) should be launched next year, with a different body based on the Neue Klasse concept. Inovev forecasts 300,000 BMW X3 sales per year worldwide.
The European Commission proposes an additional tax on Chinese BEVs
- 说明
The European Commission proposes an additional tax on Chinese BEVs
- We recently saw that Chinese brands have 2.5% of the European market (30 countries) on the first four months of 2024, and 8.5% of the European BEV market. Furthermore, Inovev has analysed that, even in the specific case of the French market, where subsidies on the purchase of models imported from China have been discontinued, Chinese cars currently remain competitive.
- Today, these cars risk becoming less competitive, as the European Commission has just proposed to increase their customs duties due to "subsidies considered unfair" which would be attributed to Chinese carmakers exporting their battery electric vehicles to Europe. These subsidies would make the cars cheaper than their European competitors, thereby distorting the market. This proposal follows an investigation carried out by the European Commission to verify the existence and quantify these "unfair subsidies" from which Chinese carmakers would benefit, causing serious economic prejudice to European carmakers.
- The system proposed by the European Commission aims to introduce a different level of taxation for each carmaker, for example 17.4% for BYD, 20% for Geely or 38% for SAIC (MG), the best-selling Chinese brands in Europe. By default, the additional tax would be 21% for carmakers who cooperated with the survey, and 38% for those who did not.
- The Chinese authorities have strongly criticised this proposal, accusing it of being a protectionist measure, and German carmakers are also highly critical, pointing to the negative effects of these measures, as they could suffer a similar response from the Chinese authorities as Germany exported 250,000 cars to China in 2023, representing over 97% of European automotive exports. It should also be noted that nearly 5 million licensed European vehicles are assembled in China (see next slide). These measures may have different consequences: It could accelerate the construction of Chinese carmakers' factories in Europe and in European nearby countries, push Chinese carmakers to switch to ICE or PHEV technologies, or even create an additional tax on European vehicles imported into China (350,000 units in 2023), mainly from Germany (250,000 units in 2023).
Dacia Sandero is becoming Europe's best-selling car in 2024
- 说明
Dacia Sandero is becoming Europe's best-selling car in 2024
- While the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling car in Europe (30 countries = EU + UK + Switzerland + Norway) in 2023, ahead of the Dacia Sandero, it is the Dacia Sandero that becomes the best-selling car in Europe (114,000 units) over the 5 months of 2024 in a market that grew by 4.6% compared to the 5 months of 2023. The Tesla Model Y falls from first to eighth place (73,000 units).
- Even more surprising is the spectacular rise of the Volkswagen Golf (102,000 units) from ninth to second place over the same period. This spectacular rise is linked to the collapse of the Volkswagen ID3 and ID4, which fall from 56th and 60th place to 92nd and 96th. It seems that some customers, especially in Germany - due to the end of subsidies on the purchase of battery electric vehicles - have preferred to switch from the ID3/ID4 to the Golf, confirming the failure of the ID3/ID4, which was originally intended to become the leader of electric cars in Europe. The German carmaker's objective has completely failed. The sales collapse of the Tesla Model Y is also linked to the end of subsidies in Germany.
- The Peugeot 208 (89,000 units) and Renault Clio (87,000 units) rank third and fourth in Europe, ahead of the Volkswagen T-Roc (84,000 units), Peugeot 2008 (73,000 units) and Citroën C3 (73,000 units). Then, in eighth place, we find the Tesla Model Y. There are five French cars in the top 7, which is rare as German cars are usually the ones keeping the first places.
The most-produced car in Japan in 2023 was the Toyota RAV4
- 说明
The most-produced car in Japan in 2023 was the Toyota RAV4
- Japan is currently the world's fourth-largest light vehicles producer (passenger cars & light utility vehicles), behind China, the EU and the USA, with 9 million light vehicles produced in 2023. In Japan, there is a clear distortion between the automotive market (sales), which favors the acquisition of small Kei cars known (similar to European A-segment vehicles), and automotive production, which is more focused on mid-range SUVs.
- Why this specific distortion? Quite simply because Kei cars are not exported, and are limited solely to the Japanese domestic market (even though there may be a demand for them: India, for example, sells 500,000 to 600,000 locally-produced equivalent Kei cars a year). On the other hand, mid-range SUVs are largely exported to countries all over the world.
- The most popular vehicles produced in Japan in 2023 - as in previous years - are the Toyota RAV4 (375,000 units) and the Mazda CX5 (350,000 units). The Subaru Forester (265,000 units), Subaru Crosstrek (175,000 units), Lexus NX (155,000 units) and Nissan X-Trail (153,000 units) also feature in the Top 10.
- There is six SUVs in the Top 10 by 2023. Two Toyota sedans (Corolla: 268,000 units and Prius: 171,000 units) and a Toyota MPV (Noah: 194,000 units) also feature in the Top 10, as does the Honda N-BOX (Japan's best-selling Kei car), which reached a production volume of 230,000 units in 2023. No Daihatsu or Suzuki models feature in the Top 10, these two brands being specialists in Kei cars that are not exported and produced in relatively limited quantities for the Japanese market.