Category Blog

说明: 发表于 2023年6月21日

Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso to merge

- Hino Motors is a subsidiary of the Toyota group specializing in trucks (medium and heavy utility vehicles) and buses. Mitsubishi Fuso is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks also specializing in trucks (medium and heavy utility vehicles) and buses. This is the former truck branch of Mitsubishi Motors acquired by Daimler Trucks in 2005.

- The two producers, Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso, are therefore competitors, but their production volume is still too low to compete with the major truck makers worldwide. Thus, in 2022, Hino produced 175,096 vehicles, including 127,842 in Japan and 47,254 outside Japan. Mitsubishi Fuso represents 15% of Daimler Trucks' production, i.e. approximately 80,000 vehicles in 2022.

- Within the Daimler Trucks group, Mitsubishi Fuso therefore represents a small part and a slightly offbeat range when it is compared to the much higher sold models from Mercedes or Freightliner brands.

- The German producer has therefore decided to conclude an agreement with the Toyota group to merge Mitsubishi Fuso with Hino Motors, which will create a Japanese leader in heavy utility vehicles capable of being competitive at a global scale. This group will surely be under Toyota control, even if today nothing has been formalized either by Toyota or by Daimler Trucks.

- Toyota and Daimler are aiming for a production of 300,000 units per year for the new company which will achieve significant economies of scale thanks to synergies in the technological, industrial and commercial field. The name of the new company will be chosen in 2024, when the definitive agreement will be signed between the two trucks makers.

说明: 发表于 2023年6月21日

Germany remains Europe's leading producer of BEVs in 2023

- The production volume in Europe (29 countries) of battery electric cars (BEV) in the 1st quarter of 2023 reached 282,198 units compared to 196,118 units in the 1st quarter of 2022, which represents an increase of 44% over one year.

- It is above all Germany that stands out as the leader in the production of this type of car, as this country produced 141,998 units on its soil in the 1st quarter of 2023, up 113% compared to the same period. of the previous year. This country now represents half of the battery electric cars produced in Europe.

- Spain – which, according to Inovev forecasts, should become the first European producer of electric cars in 2030 – is for the moment only the fourth producer of this type of car in Europe (behind Germany, the France and Belgium), but the Martorell plant has not yet started producing the future VW ID1/ID2 and Skoda, Cupra, Audi rebranded versions, scheduled to be mass-marketed. In addition, the production of the Peugeot 208 BEV has not yet started on the Zaragoza site, nor that of the future Ford BEVs in Valencia.

- France is currently second behind Germany, but far behind, with a production five times lower. In the 1st quarter of 2023, 28,931 BEVs were produced, up 25% year-on-year. It should be noted, however, that the Douai and Maubeuge factories have not yet reached their full production capacity. We are expecting the future R4, R5, Scénic, Micra and Alpine scheduled for 2024/2025, which should boost the plants’ production.

- It is to remind that European countries (29 countries) produced 841,211 BEVs in 2021 and 1,125,182 BEVs in 2022. Inovev forecasts 1.3 to 1.4 million units in 2023. Imports represented 30% of the European market BEV in 2022 and 35% in the 1st quarter of 2023.

说明: 发表于 2023年6月21日

France remains the leading European producer of HEV in 2023

- The production volume in Europe (29 countries) of full-hybrid cars (HEV) in the 1st quarter of 2023 reached 136,405 units compared to 103,928 units in the 1st quarter of 2022, which represents an increase of 31% over one year. Only six European countries currently produce HEVs, compared to eleven for BEVs and thirteen for PHEVs.

- It is above all France that stands out as the leader in the production of this type of car, as this country produced 71,040 units in the 1st quarter of 2023, up 33% compared to the same period of the previous year. France now represents half of the full-hybrid cars produced in Europe, and it is only the Japanese Toyota which produces the Yaris and Yaris Cross in Onnaing.

- Great Britain is in second place, with 34,730 HEVs produced in the 1st quarter of 2023 (up 30%) and it is still mainly due to Toyota which produces the Corolla in Burnaston. But Nissan is coming to this HEV market in 2023.

- Spain is third behind France and Great Britain, with 22,235 HEVs produced in the 1st quarter of 2023, up 22% year-on-year, thanks to Renault, which recently entered the HEV market.

- It is to remind that European countries (29 countries) produced 266,366 HEVs in 2021 and 360,048 HEVs in 2022. Inovev forecasts 500 000 to 600 000 units in 2023. Imports, which are tending to decrease, represented 62% of the European HEV market in 2022 but only 51% in the 1st quarter of 2023.of the European HEV market in 2022 but only 51% in the 1st quarter of 2023.

说明: 发表于 2023年6月21日

Germany remains Europe's leading producer of PHEV in 2023

- The production volume in Europe (29 countries) of plug-in hybrid cars (PHEV) in the 1st quarter of 2023 reached 165,849 units compared to 183,689 units in the 1st quarter of 2022, which represents a decrease of 10% year-on-year.

- It is above all Germany that stands out as the leader in the production of this type of car, as this country produced 54,659 units in the 1st quarter of 2023, down 18% compared to the same period of last year. Germany now accounts for a third of plug-in hybrid cars produced in Europe.

- Spain is in second place, with 19,274 units produced in the 1st quarter of 2023 (down 15%). France is third behind Germany and Spain, with 17,280 PHEVs produced in the 1st quarter of 2023, down 8% year on year, but much is expected of the new Peugeot 308 PHEV and Peugeot 408 PHEV, as well as future Peugeot 3008 PHEV scheduled for late 2023 or early 2024. Next come Sweden (15,238 units), Slovakia (13,359 units) and Great Britain (11,780 units).

- However, there is an overall decline in sales and production of plug-in hybrid cars in 2023, with demand preferring to shift to battery electric cars.

- It is to remind that European countries (29 countries) produced 804,407 PHEV in 2021 and 740,646 PHEV in 2022. Inovev forecasts 600 000 to 700 000 units in 2023. Imports represented 27% of the European market for PHEV in 2022 and 27% in the 1st quarter of 2023.

说明: 发表于 2023年6月20日

What explains the collapse of the Chrysler brand since 2005?

- The Chrysler brand has seen its production volume drop from 815,000 vehicles in 2005 to 88,000 in 2021, representing a 90% drop in sixteen years. What explains this collapse?

- In 2005, the Chrysler brand, which had again become a luxury brand competing with Lincoln (Ford) and Cadillac (GM) since the disappearance of the Imperial brand in 1975, had been part of the DaimlerChrysler group since 1998, the date of the merger of the Daimler and Chrysler. The Chrysler group was then made up of the Plymouth, Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler brands. At that time, the Chrysler brand offered the Sebring and 300 sedans, the Voyager and Town&Country minivans, as well as original models such as the Pacifica station wagon, the Crossfire convertible and the small PT Cruiser minivan, making seven models in total.

- In 2007, Daimler separates from Chrysler and the American manufacturer must then rely on itself to survive, which will be difficult when the subprime crisis intervenes in 2009. The manufacturer goes bankrupt and is bought in 2011 by the Italian Fiat. The Chrysler range is reduced to three models: the 300 sedan, the Town&Country minivan and the 200 compact sedan which replaces the Sebring, the latter model using an Alfa-Romeo platform. Production fell to 300,000 units in 2011.

- The following years will be marked by a total lack of interest from Fiat management for the survival of the Chrysler brand, which favors the development of the Jeep brand (belonging to the group since 1987) which better meets the growing demand for SUVs. This is how Chrysler lost the 200 sedan in 2016 and its range froze around the 300 sedan and the Pacifica minivan which succeeded the Town & Country. In 2021, Chrysler production fell to 88,000 units.