Germany produces 4 times more cars than France
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Germany produces 4 times more cars than France
- Germany has been the European country that produces the most vehicles (passenger cars and utility vehicles) since 1956, after having supplanted Great Britain, which had been the leader in this industry since 1945. France became the second largest European carmaker in 1969, after having supplanted Great Britain. It remained so until 2009, when Spain overtook it.
- France:
• France began to relocate part of its production from the beginning of the 2000s, first to Spain and Portugal, then to Eastern European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.
• Its production volume gradually declined from 3.5 million vehicles (passenger cars and light utility vehicles) per year to 2.0 million in 2009. Today, it is around 1.5 million vehicles per year.
• If we only take into account passenger cars (PC), production in France has been below one million units since 2020.
- Germany:
• Germany began relocating about a dozen years later than France, first to Spain and Portugal, then to Eastern European countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.
• Its production volume gradually declined from 6.0 million vehicles (passenger cars + utility vehicles) per year to 3.5 million in 2021. In 2024, this volume rebounded to 4.5 million units, three times more than France.
• If we only consider passenger cars (PC), production in Germany will reach 4 million units in 2024.
- In conclusion, Germany today produces 4 times more passenger cars than France and 3 times more passenger cars + utility vehicles than France.
Stellantis: new action plan, new president
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Stellantis: new action plan, new president
- In recent years, under the leadership of its president Carlos Tavares, the Stellantis group has developed a strategy favouring the marketing of vehicles with high added value and high margin, to the detriment of cheaper and more affordable vehicles.
- This strategy has certainly allowed the automotive group to generate substantial profits in the short term. But it is now facing significant difficulties, mainly linked to a decline in volumes and the corresponding overcapacity of its factories:
• The group's sales fell by 12% in 2024 and by a further 10% in the first four months of 2025.
• The group's factories are running at a slow pace and most are suffering from significant overcapacity, as Stellantis‘ management has adopted a policy of not closing any factories.
• In addition, some of the group's brands are experiencing severe underperformance, such as DS (-26.8% compared to the first 5 months of 2024), Abarth (-32.5%), Lancia (-71.1%), Maserati (-31.6%) and Dodge (-46.3%), even threatening their survival in the short term.
- Given these elements, the Stellantis group will most likely be forced to implement a policy that breaks with the previous years objectives, aided in this by the arrival of a new CEO, Antonio Filosa (who has both European and American experience).
- The objective will probably be to adapt the group's industrial tool in relation to actual sales, and if possible regain volume. This could result in factory closures and brand purging, which would imply the end of certain projects already in development. On the other hand, Stellantis could relaunch thermal and hybrid engines, and abandon a fully battery electric range, with the hope of a postponement of the 2035 ban on thermal vehicles.
Dongfeng could produce its models in Nissan factories
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Dongfeng could produce its models in Nissan factories
- Japanese carmaker Nissan, which is losing market share worldwide, is experiencing serious financial difficulties and plans to close seven factories in total to hope to survive, which could lead to a reduction in its production capacity of around 40% compared to two years ago.
- Today, Nissan is considering another solution, as it says it is ready for its Chinese partner Dongfeng, where it produces its own cars, to be able to produce its vehicles in its factories located in Europe and other regions of the world with the aim of:
1. Making maximum use of the currently underused capacities of existing Nissan factories.
2. Promoting the development of Dongfeng on the European market and on other markets where Dongfeng is absent.
- Dongfeng is currently virtually absent from the European market and has suspended its vehicle production plans in Italy. This decision follows pressure from Beijing on Chinese carmakers to slow their expansion in Europe due to trade tensions with Brussels and tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Dongfeng's expansion in Europe could, however, ignore the Chinese government's recommendations. Dongfeng is a small carmaker in China, having produced only 381,228 passenger cars in 2024 under its own brands, plus 1,485,031 foreign cars in joint ventures. Dongfeng would therefore see an interest in producing its cars in Europe to expand its customer base, which is currently concentrated in the Chinese market.
4 VW Group models among the 7 best-selling BEVs in Norway over 4 months 2025
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4 VW Group models among the 7 best-selling BEVs in Norway over 4 months 2025
- The Norwegian BEV market is expected to experience a strong recovery in 2025 compared to 2024. In the first four months of 2025, there were 38,641 BEVs registered on this market, compared to 30,078 units in the first four months of 2024, which represents an increase of 28.5%. It should be noted that the Norwegian BEV market had fallen by 5.0% in the first four months of 2024 compared to the first four months of 2023, due to the end of BEV purchase subsidies implemented at the end of 2023. It should be noted that BEVs currently represent 90% of the Norwegian market, while the European Union average is 17%. However, given Norway's size (5.5 million inhabitants), the BEV market there is four times smaller than that of Germany (83.3 million inhabitants).
- Which carmaker has benefited the most from this revival of the Norwegian BEV market? And which has benefited the less?
• The carmaker that has benefited most from the Norwegian BEV market revival is undoubtedly the Volkswagen Group, which has increased sales from 5,884 units in the first four months of 2024 to 9,791 units in the first four months of 2025, its market share increasing from 20% to 25% in this BEV category. The Volkswagen Group thus places four models in the top 7 sales (compared to three the previous year). The ID7 manages to climb to fifth place, despite its premium positioning.
• Other carmakers have benefited less from this recovery, but Toyota has managed to increase its sales by 60% of its only Toyota-designed model, the BZ4X.
• Tesla is the main loser, with a 20% drop in sales in the first four months of 2025 compared to the first four months of 2024, with some of its customers likely switching to Volkswagen.
The Poissy plant could no longer produce vehicles after 2028
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The Poissy plant could no longer produce vehicles after 2028
- Built by Ford in 1939, sold to SIMCA in 1954 then redeveloped and enlarged several times until producing 500,000 vehicles per year in the early 1970s under the supervision of the American group Chrysler, resold to the PSA Peugeot-Citroën group in 1978. The Poissy plant is today belonging to Stellantis (since the merger of PSA with FCA in 2021) but largely underused, its production volume having gradually decreased from 330,000 vehicles in 2005 to 200,000 in 2010, 100,000 in 2018 and 20,000 in 2020, during the Covid crisis. At this level, the Poissy plant seemed doomed, but one last chance was granted in the form of the arrival in 2021 of the Opel Mokka, a B-segment SUV built on the same platform as the DS 3, the only model produced at this plant in 2020.
- The success of the Opel Mokka was unfortunately short-lived and its production volume, which reached a peak of 108,500 units in 2022, declined from 2023. This model is scheduled to end its commercial career in 2028. Beyond that, no new model is planned to be produced at the Poissy plant (nor even the replacement for the DS 3 planned for 2026), which could ultimately become a circular economy plant, like the Renault plant in Flins, or a real estate complex incorporating a large football stadium to replace the Parc des Princes, which is located in the 16th district of Paris.
- Whichever scenario is adopted, the Poissy plant will cease producing cars in 2028, 89 years after its inauguration by Ford.
- The question is whether the models currently produced there (Opel Mokka and DS 3) will be replaced by new generations, and where they would be produced if these models were replaced. For the moment, no answer is possible, especially since the longevity of the DS brand is far from secured, according to Inovev.
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