Diesel engines progress in Japan ... but remain marginal
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Diesel engines progress in Japan ... but remain marginal
- While diesel’s influence is declining in Europe (its market share has decreased from 50.2% of new car registrations in the first half of 2016 to 46.3% in the first half of 2017) and stagnating at a very low level in the United States (0.5% of market share in 2017), it is progressing significantly in Japan (+ 20% increase in sales in the first half of 2017 compared to the first half of 2016).
- Diesel is considered in Japan, in the "Next Generation Vehicles" plan, as an alternative and ecological energy, in the same way as battery-powered vehicles, or biofuels.
- One-fifth of the cars imported to Japan have diesel engines, i.e. 30,000 units out of 150,000 in the first half of 2017. German brands (Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes) are both the most popular and have the most diesel engines.
- These vehicles with low CO2 emissions benefit from tax deductions in Japan, which can attract a certain clientele. However, on the Japanese market as a whole, diesel represents today only 1.5% of market share, that is to say 20% of imports which themselves represent only 7% of the market, since the Japanese manufacturers do not market this type of engine in Japan (except Mazda on the CX5).
- Japanese customers prefer to move towards the hybrid engine offered by several Japanese manufacturers, notably Toyota that sells 40% of its models in Japan with this type of engine.
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Volvo creates a new brand ... for China
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Volvo creates a new brand ... for China
- Volvo (a subsidiary of Chinese Geely group) will create a new car brand for China. This brand, named Polestar, comes from Volvo's sports department, but now claims full brand status.
- This brand, whose models will be exclusively manufactured in China starting in the summer of 2019, will be dedicated to 100% electric vehicles sold locally, responding to the wish of the Chinese government to encourage Chinese car manufacturers to boost their production of electric vehicles (see the quotas imposed on manufacturers in 2019 at the bottom of the page).
- The first model of the Polestar brand was unveiled this month. This is a coupe simply called Polestar 1 and is built on the same platform of the Volvo XC60, XC90, S90 and V90, namely the SPA platform dedicated to Volvo D and E segment models. This 4.50m long model will start production during the summer of 2019.
- It will be followed by a D segment sedan called Polestar 2 and a D segment SUV called Polestar 3, all 100% electric. The range will then be supplemented by other models still unknown to date.
- It is not known if these models will be exported to Europe, and today Volvo does not have 100% electric vehicles on this continent, but only plug-in hybrid vehicles, such as the V60, XC60, XC90, S90 and V90.
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Turkish market down 1.4% in the first nine months of 2017
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Turkish market down 1.4% in the first nine months of 2017
- The Turkish market (PC+ LCV) rose by 5.6% in September 2017, for the third consecutive positive figure this year, as the first half of 2017 ended in the negative (-8.6%). On the cumulative 9 months of 2017, the Turkish market is down 1.4% to 0.63 million units, while it fell 1% in 2016.
- Over the year as a whole, the Turkish market could be between 920,000 and 950,000 units according to Inovev. Registration figures will therefore be lower than those of 2016 and 2015, which set a record in this area.
- The political situation in Turkey and the region remains unstable, which can influence the growth of the market. In the long term, the Turkish market with a very low car ownership rate (280 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 570 in continental Europe) has however the potential to reach or even exceed one million registrations per year.
- Four brands account for 50% of the Turkish market in 2017: Renault (14%) which produces locally, Fiat (13%) which produces locally, Volkswagen (12%) which does not produce locally and Ford (11%) which produces only vans locally. Renault eventually overtook Fiat, which had remained the leader in the Turkish market for several decades, thanks to a range that matched the demand from local customers. Today, Fiat has mainly only Tipo and Linea. The Renault range has a better spread (Clio, Symbol, Megane) which corresponds to local demand.
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Top selling electric cars in China for the first 9 months of 2017
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Top selling electric cars in China for the first 9 months of 2017
- 267,608 100% electric cars were sold in China in the first nine months of 2017, which is 1.6% of China's PC market over the period. Adding rechargeable hybrids (58,606 units, or 0.3% of market share), this share reached 1.9% of the Chinese VP market over the period. This volume, therefore, does not yet reach 2% of the market.
- These figures clearly show that car manufacturers will have to massively increase their efforts to reach the Chinese government objective of 10% of market share in 2019, or even more in the following years.
- Over the whole of 2017, 350,000 electric cars and 80,000 plug-in hybrid cars could be sold on the Chinese market, i.e. 430,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids in total, against less than 300,000 units in Europe, less than 200,000 units in the United States and less than 50,000 units in Japan.
- Manufacturers who are leaders in the Chinese electric car market in the first 9 months of 2017 are BYD (69,094 sales), BAIC (53,716 sales), Zhidou (32,616 sales), SAIC (20,655 sales) and Zotye (19,256 sales). Worldwide, BYD is ahead of Renault-Nissan (89,750 sales) and Tesla (73,227 sales), over the same period.
- In the first 9 months of 2017, the BAIC E-Series EV is the leader in the Chinese electric market (37,152 sales), ahead of the Zhidou D2 EV (32,591 sales) and the BYD e5 (18,263 sales).
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The main announcements of the Opel Recovery Plan
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The main announcements of the Opel Recovery Plan
- The Opel / Vauxhall Brand Recovery Plan was unveiled on Thursday, November 9, 2017. Here is a summary of the main announcements:
1. no closure of Opel plants (six plants in Europe: Rüsselsheim, Eisenach, Zaragoza, Gliwice, Ellesmere Port, Luton) but their capacity will be reduced by an average of 25% by 2020.
2. gradual transfer to 2024 of GM platforms and engines to PSA platforms and engines. The R & D center in Rüsselsheim will still operate and will now work for the entire PSA group.
3. repatriation of Mokka (80,000 units) and Karl (60,000 units) from Korean sites to Opel's European plants by 2020.
4. development of Opel's non-European sales: 100,000 sales expected in 2020, compared to 50,000 in 2017. Opel focuses on Turkey, China and Brazil, where the brand is currently absent. Only PSA based models can be exported.
- The sales volume of the Opel and Vauxhall models should therefore theoretically increase from 1.2 million in 2017 (of which 1.05 million manufactured in Europe) to 1.25 million in 2020 (of which 1.25 million manufactured in Europe).
- At the same time, the production capacity of the Opel and Vauxhall plants would go from 1.4 million to 1.05 million (a reduction of 25%). This means that there are 200,000 Opel vehicles manufactured in factories other than Opel's, namely those of PSA (such as Combo in Vigo or Grandland in Sochaux). We should consider either future Opel models manufactured at PSA sites (100,000 units per year), or a 100,000 units/year decline in sales of Opel models in Europe by 2020.
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Read more... The main announcements of the Opel Recovery Plan
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