Inovev forecasts 100,000 units per year of the new Volvo EX30
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Inovev forecasts 100,000 units per year of the new Volvo EX30
- The Volvo carmaker (subsidiary of the Chinese group Geely) has just presented its new B-segment battery electric SUV, the EX30, which shares its platform with the Smart 01. This model expands downwards Volvo's products range. It is in a way the successor of the B segment Volvo C30 (2006-2013). This extension of the range comes at the right time as the carmaker suffered a 13% drop in sales in 2022, falling from 652,000 units in 2021 to 569,000 units last year, a volume which is very far from the objectives of the carmaker set at 1 million sales in 2030.
- The new EX30 SUV competes with battery electric versions of B-segment SUVs like the Peugeot 2008, Opel Mokka, Hyundai Kona, Kia Soul and of course Smart 01 on which the Volvo EX30 is based. This category should be enriched with new models in 2023-2024, such as the future battery electric Mini Countryman and Aceman, as well as the future battery electric Skoda small SUV. The future battery electric Renault 4 could also be a competitor of the Volvo EX30.
- The new Volvo SUV is 4.23m long, 1.84m wide and 1.55m high. Its weight reaches 1,830 kilos for the two-wheel-drive version (weight of the C30: 1,350 kilos) and 1,965 kilos for the four-wheel-drive version. The battery has a capacity of 51 kWh or 69 kWh, with the higher capacity being standard on the four-wheel-drive version. The price should be between 37,500 and 50,000 euros depending on the version. Note that this model will be produced in China (alongside the Smart 01), in the Geely factory in Ningbo (south of Shanghai). Inovev forecasts 100,000 sales per year of this new small Volvo SUV.
Inovev forecasts 50,000 units per year of the new Lexus LBX
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Inovev forecasts 50,000 units per year of the new Lexus LBX
- While most car carmakers prefer to embark on the manufacture of increasingly larger and more expensive models, with a view to higher profits, Lexus is exploring the B-segment SUV market with the launch of a new model, the LBX, placed in the carmaker's range under the UX (C-segment), NX (D-segment) and RX (E-segment) SUVs. The LBX model is launched in a context of a difficult previous year (-18% global sales in 2022).
- The LBX platform is shared with the Toyota Yaris Cross but modified, according to the carmaker, to bring more comfort, a specificity of the Lexus brand (Premium brand of the Toyota group). The model targets Premium B-segment SUVs, such as the DS3 Crossback, Audi Q2 or Mini Countryman.
- The LBX is equipped with a hybrid internal combustion engine (three-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol engine) producing 134 hp, 18 hp more than the Yaris Cross. It therefore does not compete directly the new Smart 01 (or Volvo EX30), a battery electric SUV. The front-wheel-drive version will be completed next year by a four-wheel-drive version.
- This is the first time that a Japanese Premium brand enters the SUV B-segment market, as in Europe for instance this market is quite limited. This strategy remains risky, especially if we take into account the fact that the LBX is not offered in a battery electric version, like the new Smart 01 or Volvo EX30. Inovev forecasts 50,000 units per year of this new Lexus model produced exclusively in Japan and which will be priced among the highest B-segment SUVs on the market.
Ford Fiesta and Opel Corsa: two completely opposite strategies
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Ford Fiesta and Opel Corsa: two completely opposite strategies
- The Ford and Opel brands have had totally opposite strategies regarding their B-segment sedan, the Ford Fiesta and the Opel Corsa. When the brands were under the control of American carmakers Ford and GM, these two models saw their influence gradually reduce between 2007 and 2017, each falling from 450,000 / 500,000 sales per year to 250,000 / 300,000 in 2017.
- When GM sold its Opel subsidiary to PSA in 2017, the French carmaker immediately designed a new Corsa based on the Peugeot 208 and the Corsa was able to stabilize its sales at 200,000 / 250,000 units per year. While in the case of the Fiesta, sales continued to decline between 2017 and 2023. And its production ceased in July 2023.
- Ford's strategy was therefore to definitively abandon the category of B-segment sedans judged being unprofitable, while Opel (under the control of PSA and then Stellantis) chose on the contrary to continue to market this type of model, thanks to the mutualisation of its platform and some parts of its body with the Peugeot 208 (and also group’s SUVs) which represents 250,000/300,000 sales per year. The result of these divergent strategies has undoubtedly resulted in some Ford Fiesta customers switching to the Opel Corsa from 2019, as the two models are targeting the same market.
- The launch of the B-segment SUVs Ford Puma and Opel Mokka only slightly offset the sales drop of the Ford Fiesta (between 2019 and 2023) and Opel Corsa (between 2014 and 2017). The Ford Puma tops out at 150,000 units per year and the Opel Mokka at 100,000 units per year. This is much worse than the Peugeot 2008 which records 200,000 sales per year.
Tesla will build a new factory in Mexico
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Tesla will build a new factory in Mexico
- After the factory in Fremont (USA), Shanghai (China), Austin (USA) and Berlin (Europe), the Californian electric car carmaker Tesla will open a new factory in Mexico. This will be the fifth Tesla car production site, the third located outside the United States and the first located in Latin America.
- This factory will be located in Monterrey in northern Mexico, 200 kilometres from the border with the United States. It will make it possible to supply the US and Canadian markets as well as Mexican and the South American markets if these markets succeed to develop their EV markets.
- For the time being, no year production launch announcement has been made, but it has been announced that new generation vehicles will be produced there.Tesla is aiming to produce 20 million cars per year in 2030 (twice as much production as Toyota today and comparable to current production in China). This therefore assumes a sales growth of 50% per year from today to this horizon and the construction of 10 to 12 additional factories according to Elon Musk, founder and boss of Tesla. Interestingly, Tesla does not expect to increase dramatically the number of models variants to achieve this volume target.
- The choice of Mexico is timely: the electric cars that will be produced there and delivered to the United States will benefit from the subsidies granted by the Amercian Administration within the framework of the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) intended to encourage the production of electric cars in North America. All carmakers established in the country have benefited for many years from a free trade agreement with the United States, as members of NAFTA. In addition, Mexico has large potential of lithium capacities in the north of the country, which is critical for the production of batteries.
The European Union remains the world's largest exporter of vehicles
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The European Union remains the world's largest exporter of vehicles
- According to ACEA, the European Union exported 5.5 million cars in 2022. Despite strong growth in exports from China (see below), the European Union remains significantly, the world's largest exporter of motor vehicles. However, it is possible to wonder if this is not an optical illusion due to a Brexit effect (as now vehicles sent to UK are considered as exports). In fact it is nothing. Indeed, of the 5.5 million exported by the European Union, just over 1 million are destined to the United Kingdom, which is no longer part of the European Union. If we subtract them, exports from the European Union remains, at around 4 million units, far ahead of China and Japan. Another analysis consists in considering Europe in the broader sense, taking into account the former perimeter of the European Union (current EU + United Kingdom). In this case, the entity also remains the world's largest exporter, with 4.65 million cars exported in 2022 (= UE exports + UK exports outside EU).
- China's car exports, which were stable between 2010 and 2020, jumped from 2021, partly due to the desire of several Chinese carmakers to attack the European market (200 000 sales in Europe in 2022 against 85,000 in 2021 and 36,000 in 2020), on the other hand the decision to manufacture in China European or American models exported all over the world, and finally the consequences of the departure of European carmakers and from Russia, which has opened up a boulevard to Chinese carmakers (125,000 sales in Russia in 2022 compared to 115,000 in 2021 and 57,000 in 2020). The volume of China's automobile exports has thus increased from 450,000 units in 2015 to 760,000 in 2020, 1,614,000 in 2021 and 2,529,000 in 2022. According to figures for the first quarter of 2023 (1,142,000 units), nearly 3.5 million automobiles are expected to be exported from China this year as a whole.
- Compared to Japan, one of the world's leading automobile exporters, China remained behind until 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, China is hot on the heels of Japan (1,167,000 units).