Toyota still remains the world leader in HEV sales
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Toyota still remains the world leader in HEV sales
- The Toyota group is still the world leader in sales of full-hybrid cars (HEV), as it has clearly outpaced all its competitors since the launch of the first Toyota Prius in 1997. Since that date, the Prius has been renewed several times and totalled 5.9 million sales since its appearance on the market. And the HEV engine has been extended to all models in the Toyota and Lexus ranges. But not yet to the small Daihatsu models.
- Thus, the number of HEV-powered cars produced by the Toyota group since 1997 greatly exceeds 20 million units. In 2022, global sales of Toyota and Lexus HEVs exceeded 2 million units for the first time, representing 20% of the carmaker's total production.
- The main competitors that have entered this specific HEV market are Honda (455,000 sales in 2022), Hyundai-Kia (365,000 sales) and Renault-Nissan (355,000 sales). Since 1997, even if their launch was later than that of the Toyota Prius, Honda has sold 3.7 million hybrid cars, Hyundai-Kia 1.6 million units and Renault-Nissan 1.8 million. The four carmakers (Toyota, Honda, Hyundai-Kia and Renault-Nissan) account for 95% of worldwide HEV sales between 1997 and 2022.
- The other carmakers who have invested in the HEV market are few in number and their sales volume is very low. The question now is whether HEV motorization is viable in the long term (in terms of CO2 emissions) and if not, will switching to BEV and/or PHEV motorization be easy for all of these carmakers.
The European, Chinese and USA automotive market 2000-2022 by segment (all engines)
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The European, Chinese and USA automotive market 2000-2022 by segment (all engines)
The Renault plant in Pitesti stopped the production of the Sandero
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The Renault plant in Pitesti stopped the production of the Sandero
- The Dacia Sandero appeared in 2007 to complete the range of the Romanian carmaker which was only proposing the Logan at this time. Compared to the Logan with trunk and sedan body, the Sandero offers a hatchback body. Its production was launched in Romania, at the Dacia plant in Pitesti, alongside the Logan. Renewed in 2012 and then in 2020, the Dacia Sandero started the production in Morocco in 2012, in two different factories (Tangier and Casablanca). Today, only the two Moroccan plants supply Dacia Sanderoin European and the North African markets.
- The Tangier plant has been chosen to produce 150,000 Sanderos per year on average, up to 174,000 units in 2022. The Casablanca plant has for its part increased its production volume of the Sandero, lower than that of Tangier, reaching 50,000 units in 2018-2020, up to 75,000 units in 2022.
- The Pitesti plant, meanwhile, only produced an average of 50,000 Sanderos per year over the period 2014-2021, compared to 150,000 in 2009 and 2010, before falling to 3,000 units in 2022. In 2023, production of the Dacia Sandero has ceased at its historic Pitesti site.
- There were other factories located in Russia and South America for the demand in these two specific markets, but with much lower production volumes. The Russian factory stopped production of the Sandero in 2022, following the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The South American plant continues at low rates.
Mercedes postpones to 2026 its sales target of 50% BEV+PHEV
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Mercedes postpones to 2026 its sales target of 50% BEV+PHEV
- The Mercedes group has announced that it is postponing its target of 50% of its sales in battery electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) engines by one year (from 2025 to 2026). In 2022, Mercedes group ales amounted to 139,000 BEVs (including 118,000 Mercedes and 21,000 Smart) while 180 000 PHEVs or 319,000 in total, representing 13% of Mercedes Group's worldwide sales, including 6% BEV and 7% PHEV.
- The share of Mercedes with BEV or PHEV engines is thus lower than the level of the European market in 2022, which reached 23% (14% of BEV + 9% of PHEV).
- On the other hand, with a 13% share of BEV+PHEV in 2022, it seemed impossible for Mercedes to achieve a 50% share in 2025, depending on the pace of growth in sales of this type of vehicle, even by stopping thermal engines mounted on C-segment models of Mercedes branded as the carmaker plans to do in 2025 (models: A-Class, B-Class, CLA, GLA, GLB). These C-segment cars represented a volume of 342,000 units produced in Europe in 2022, or 14% of Mercedes' global production last year.
- Mercedes has therefore decided to postpone its target until 2026. But even that goal will be difficult to achieve. It will be the same for most other European carmakers. We should not be surprised to see new postponements of objectives from other carmakers.
Renault and Nissan will become two partner groups
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Renault and Nissan will become two partner groups
- The Renault-Nissan group set up in 1999 (following the takeover of Nissan by Renault) until now consisted of the Renault group (Renault, Dacia, Alpine) and the Nissan group (Nissan, Infiniti, Mitsubishi). This Franco-Japanese group managed to gradually become the world's leading car carmaker in 2017 and 2018, before falling to fourth place in 2022, behind the Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai-Kia groups.
- But the agreement in principle between Renault and Nissan at the beginning of the year (the most important point of which will be the sale of 28% of Renault's shares in Nissan) will result in a new independence regained for the two Renault and Nissan groups.
Each of the two carmakers not having control over the other (Renault will hold 15% of Nissan and Nissan 15% of Renault). But these two groups should remain partners.
Each of the two carmakers not having control over the other (Renault will hold 15% of Nissan and Nissan 15% of Renault). But these two groups should remain partners.
- In this new context, how will the two groups present themselves to the competition, in terms of sales and production? In this scenario, the Nissan group would be the world's sixth largest carmaker in 2022 and the Renault group the world's thirteenth largest carmaker.
- Renault Group has confirmed that it wants to produce 500,000 BEVs in 2026 and 1,000,000 BEVs in 2030 (including 700,000 BEVs produced in Hauts-de-France region at the Douai and Maubeugeplants). Inovev forecasts for its part 450,000 BEVs produced by Renault in the Hauts de France in 2030. Renault sold 160,000 BEVs in 2022 including 48,887 Spring, 40,544 Zoé, 33,211 Megane E-Tech, 27,146 Twingo ZE, 8,655 Kangoo ZE and 785 Master ZE. In addition to these Renault and Dacia models, the Nissan Townstar BEV and Mercedes Citan BEV produced in France, whose sales did not exceed 15,000 units in total in 2022.