BYD will build an assembly plant in France
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BYD will build an assembly plant in France
- The Chinese manufacturer BYD (21st manufacturer worldwide) has become one of the leading manufacturers of electric buses in the World, in only a few years. Its production of electric buses in China has thus increased from 5,375 units in 2015 to 13,278 units in 2016, destined for the local market.
- After supplying China from its Changsha plant (calibrated to produce up to 50,000 buses per year), BYD has established electric bus plants in several foreign countries: the USA, Hungary and Brazil. In the USA, its bus production increased from 200 to 400 annual units. Production in Hungary is expected to start in 2017. As for Brazil, the agreement between BYD and the Brazilian authorities has not yet been validated. Finally, BYD has announced the installation of a new electric bus plant, this time in France, in the commune of Allonne (Hauts de France region). The plant is expected to start operating in the first half of 2018.
- BYD announces its intention to initially produce 200 vehicles per year in its French plant, which could be doubled in the long term. According to BYD, the choice of France is explained by the fact that the French bus market is the largest in Europe. The models manufactured will be those already known in the United States, under the name K9, whose origins go back to 2010. This model of 18 tons is endowed with a autonomy of 250km. BYD sold 6,000 K9 buses worldwide in 2016.
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Ford will launch Ecosport production in Craiova end 2017
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Ford will launch Ecosport production in Craiova end 2017
- To compete with the B segment SUVs sold in Europe, such as the Nissan Juke, Renault Captur, Peugeot 2008 and Opel Mokka, Ford launched the Ecosport model on the continent in 2014. This segment B SUV was already sold in Latin America since 2012. For European demand, Ecosport was not sourced from Latin America, but from India (from the factory located in Chennai which produces Ford models for the local market) . From autumn 2017, Ecosports sold in Europe will only be manufactured in Ford's Romanian factory in Craiova (230km west of Bucharest).
- The Ecosport will benefit from a restyling that will harmonize the style of the Ecosport front bumper grille with Ford’s other European SUVs, Kuga (segment C) and Edge (segment D). The restyled Ecosport (see photo) will be on display at the next Frankfurt Motor Show.
- The Ford plant in Craiova has been producing a single model since 2012: the B-Max, a B segment minivan, whose sales decreased from 66,000 units in 2013 to 37,000 units in 2016,a difficult situation, given the site's 100 000 units per year capacity. Ecosport production will saturate Craiova ‘s capacity at the end of 2017, as sales of B-Max and Ecosport models totaled nearly 94,000 units in 2016 and the 100,000 units should be reached in 2017. The site will possibly focus in future on the production of Ecosport alone.
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Read more... Ford will launch Ecosport production in Craiova end 2017
Great Wall’s bulgarian factory shuts down
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Great Wall’s bulgarian factory shuts down
- Production in Bulgaria of Great Wall branded models began in 2012 at the Litex Motors local assembly plant in Lovech. These were the Voleex C10 sedan, Hover H5 / H6 SUVs and the Steed 5 pickup. The factory was calibrated to produce from parts imported from China, from 4,000 to 5,000 cars per year, destined for Bulgaria and neighboring countries.
- More than this number of vehicles were produced in 2014 and 2015, yet it appears that , on one hand, the factory stored a large number of unsold vehicles and ,on the other hand, that Great Wall has no intention to conform to Euro6 standard for its models sold in Europe, similarly to SAIC (MG), which produced vehicles in England, and ceased production in 2016 for the same reasons. Finally, the bankruptcy of the CCB bank that financed the project definitively curtailed Great Wall’s ambitions. As a result, the approximately 20,000 Great Wall models produced in Bulgaria in five years have had difficulty finding buyers in Europe, and therefore most have been sold in Bulgaria and in the Balkans.
- Today, the factory opened a bankruptcy proceeding following the shutdown of the business, which illustrates once again the difficulties of Chinese OEMs (Landwind, Brilliance, Qoros, MG and now, Great Wall) in Europe.
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Factories in Europe produced at close to 84% of capacity in 2016
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Factories in Europe produced at close to 84% of capacity in 2016
- Overcapacities production in Europe (Europe 29 + Turkey) decreased in 2016 to 16%, for a utilization rate of 84%, very close to the 2007 rate of 85%.
- This figure, which is one of the best in the decade, can be explained by the conjunction of two phenomena:
1. The increase in the European market in 2016 (+ 7% for all PC and LUV), which resulted in the production of more vehicles last year.
2. The closure of several factories in 2015 (Bochum, Genk) and the elimination of assembly lines in several others that reduced the capacity of the European car industry last year.
- Exports remained at a good level in 2016, and thus had no negative influence on European production volume . Nor has there been any plant construction on the continent to increase in European car industry capacity.
- In 2017, the European market should continue to increase and no new plant capacity will be operational (Nitra's Jaguar Land Rover plant will be completed in 2018). So overcapacity is expected to continue to decline in 2017- it could reach 14%, the lowest figure ever recorded in Europe.
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Read more... Factories in Europe produced at close to 84% of capacity in 2016
The most produced F segment car in 2016
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The most produced F segment car in 2016
- The most produced F segment car in 2016 was the Mercedes S-Class, as for many years.
- The current generation (launched in 2013) is available in six body versions .The standard limousine is available in extended version (+ 13cm), Maybach version (+ 33cm), Pullman version (+ 133cm), 2 door coupe version ,and 2 door cabriolet version.
- The traditional competitors to the S-Class , the BMW 7 Series and the Audi A8, are relegated to third place and tenth place, respectively. in 2016 The most recent competitors ,the Tesla Model S and Cadillac CT6 , in fourth place and seventh place, respectively.
- SUVs in the F segment are gradually taking an increasing portion of the sales of high-end models. The Range Rover Sport and the Range Rover occupy the second and the fifth position respectively in 2016. The Mercedes GLS ,the SUV associated with the S class , is in sixth place, ahead of the Tesla Model X located in the ninth.
- The global market for F-segment vehicles reached 700,000 units in 2016.
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