SAIC wants to re-launch the Maxus brand in Europe
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SAIC wants to re-launch the Maxus brand in Europe
- The Maxus brand of light commercial vehicles was created in 2011 by the Chinese group SAIC to replace the LDV brand that it had just acquired. LDV (Leyland Daf Vans) was formerly a part of the British Leyland Motor Corporation. Maxus was the name of a LDV light utility model sold in Europe between 2004 and 2009.
- SAIC took this model’s name to make it a brand in its own right.
- Maxus is selling light commercial vehicles in China since 2011 but none in Europe. SAIC has just decided to relaunch the Maxus brand in Europe starting in 2019. This revival, as for MG, will be achieved through the sale of 100% electric models, as SAIC does not wish to put its combustion engines in conformity with the Euro-6 standards. The light commercial vehicles that will be marketed by Maxus from 2019 in Europe will therefore be direct competitors of the 100% electric light commercial vehicles sold on this continent, such as the Nissan NV e-200 (category N1-2) which registered 3,000 sales In Europe in 2016. The first Maxus model will be the EV80 (category N1-3), already known in China, but other models could be added to the range after 2019. SAIC hopes to sell 10,000 Maxus electric LCVs every year in Europe.
- The SAIC initiative, in addition to that of Borgward or BYD, clearly shows that Chinese manufacturers want to grow in the European market through electric vehicles.
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Inovev predicts 50 000 Grandland X sales per year
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Inovev predicts 50 000 Grandland X sales per year
- The Opel and Vauxhall brands, newly integrated into the French PSA group, unveiled the new SUV Grandland X (C segment), located above the Mokka X (B segment) and Crossland X (B segment), the Grandland being the replacement of the Opel Antara which began production in 2006 and stopped in 2016, with only 2,000 sales in Europe.
- While the Antara was a pure GM product made in Korea by GM Korea (formerly Daewoo), the new Grandland X is based on the PSA EMP2 platform and will have the PSA engine, used notably by the Peugeot 3008. The Grandland X will even be produced on the same site as the 3008 (Sochaux - France) as of Spring 2018.
- The Grandland X is the second Opel-Vauxhall model to be built on a PSA platform, the Crossland X having been the first (PF1 platform and PSA engines). The next one will likely be in 2018,with the future Combo, which will use the same platform and engines as the future Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner. Ultimately, the entire Opel-Vauxhall range will be PSA based. Inovev expects 50,000 sales of the Grandland X per year from 2019. If sales of this model exceed 50,000 units/year, the Sochaux plant (400,000 units) should reach full capacity. Indeed, the plant has reached 325,000 units produced in 2016, and in 2017 the ramp up of the 3008 and the restyled version of the 308 is expected to increase volumes produced.
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Chinese Market Increase of 5% in First Quarter of 2017
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Chinese Market Increase of 5% in First Quarter of 2017
- After 15% growth in 2016, the Chinese market seems to be slowing down and be moving towards still strong but lower growth throughout 2017. The Chinese market grew 5.1% in the first quarter of 2017. It should therefore approach the 30 million units this year (new record), accounting for one third of the world market.
- The OEMs fared very differently:
• Some saw their sales increase significantly in the first quarter of 2017: Geely Group (+ 110%), SAIC-Roewe-MG Group (+ 105%), FCA Group (+ 75.9%), Daimler Group (+ 29.6%), Mazda Group (+ 31.3%), Honda Group (+ 29.7%), Dongfeng Group (+ 29.6%) and the Renault-Nissan Group(27,1%) , Toyota Group (+ 12.7%), Great Wall (+ 9.1%), BAIC Group (+ 7.8%) and Changan (+ 6.2%).
• Other manufacturers saw their sales fall in the first quarter of 2017: GM Group (-0.7%), Volkswagen Group (-0.9%) due to a 12% fall in Audi sales, Chery (-7,5%) , BYD (-10,9%) Ford Group (-19.4%), Suzuki (-22.9%), Hyundai-Kia Group (-25.9%) and PSA Group (-45.8%).
- The two leaders remain by far VW and GM, but the former third player Hyundai-Kia, which fell sharply in the first quarter of 2017, was surpassed by Honda, Geely, Toyota, and Renault-Nissan.
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SAIC wants to re-launch the MG brand in Europe
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SAIC wants to re-launch the MG brand in Europe
- The Chinese group SAIC, which owns the Roewe (ex-Rover) and MG brands, wants to revive the MG brand in Europe as of 2019. Sales of MG in Europe under the control of SAIC were achieved between 2013 and 2016, thanks to the models produced at the MG-Rover plant in Longbridge (United Kingdom). Over 8,000 units were manufactured there during this period, but production ceased in August 2016, due to sales considered too low and the manufacturer ‘s refusal to adapt its engines to Euro-6 standards.
- The return of the MG brand in Europe will therefore be with 100% electric vehicles, as for Borgward (which plans to achieve 10,000 sales per year from its Bremen plant). According to SAIC, European environmental standards for thermal engines require too much investment. A first, 100% electric new generation MG was presented at the Shanghai Motor Show in April 2017, which will give birth to the first MG model launched in Europe in 2019. It is a medium-sized coupe capable of carrying four passengers, with 500 km autonomy. Compared to the previous MGs sold in Europe (and those still sold in China), the new model is much more upmarket, very close to Premium category. Perhaps this is SAIC's new strategy to succeed with the MG brand in Europe, learning from past failures.
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The European PC Market Grew 8,2% in the First Quarter of 2017
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The European PC Market Grew 8,2% in the First Quarter of 2017
- Following 6.5% growth in 2016, the European market for passenger cars (PC) increased by 8.2% in the first quarter of 2017. It is still too early to say whether this growth will continue over the whole year. However, at this rate, the market could reach 16 million units by 2017 (a level never seen since 2007).
- Most OEMS have seen their sales increase in the first quarter of 2017: PSA Group (+ 71.6%), Suzuki Group (+ 30.0%), Tata Group (+ 9.2%), BMW Group (+6.0%), Renault-Nissan Group (+ 11.0%), Hyundai-Kia Group (+ 10.1% 7%), Volkswagen Group (+ 4.8%).
- Two manufacturers’ sales decreased in the first quarter of 2017: Mazda (-5.4%) and Honda (-11.6%).
- The market leader remains Volkswagen ahead of PSA, which becomes second through the acquisition of the Opel and Vauxhall brands. This leaves the Renault-Nissan group in third position in Europe.
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