PSA: Which plants will benefit from the closing of Aulnay-Sous-Bois?
 
Until 2006, the PSA Group had four plants producing B-segment vehicles:
-Ryton (England), which closed in 2006. This plant  used to produce the Peugeot 206.
-Trnava (Slovakia), opened in 2006 to produce the Peugeot 207, the successor to the Peugeot 206,
-Poissy (France), which produces the Peugeot 208,
-Aulnay-Sous-Bois (France), which produced until October 2013 the Citroën C3/DS3.

Between 2007 and 2013 the volume of the European market dropped by over 25%. PSA vehicles from segment B are primarily sold on this market. This led to significant production overcapacity of PSA plants.

To curb this trend the French group has decided to rationalise the production of segment B vehicles .

One would have thought that PSA would have benefited from this rationalisation to transfer the production of the Citroën C3/DS3 from Aulnay-Sous-Bois to the Trnava plant (Slovakia) whose production costs are assumed to be lower.

This is not the case since the production of Trnava has been practically stagnant since 2009, even with the arrival in 2008 of the Citroen C3 Picasso (MPV from segment B) and the arrival of the Peugeot 208 in 2011.

It is therefore the Poissy plant that was able to increase its production from 2011 benefiting from the choice made by PSA, while between 2004 and 2011 this plant and the Aulnay-Sous-Bois plant had the same production volume and were following
the same downward trend.
 
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Ford is struggling in Europe
 

While the Ford group’s (that currently only includes the Ford and Lincoln brands) sales  are increasing strongly in Asia (+52% in China in the first ten months of 2013) and North America (+12% in the United States on the first ten months of 2013), Ford is conversely experiencing a significant decline in Europe (-5%).


For the first time, vehicle sales in the Asia-Pacific region crossed the threshold of one million units, thanks to China which recorded 750 000 units sold over ten months.


In North America, the group’s sales reached 2.5 million units (including two million in the United States) over the same period.


In Europe, the Group's situation is more complex. Ford sold more than one million vehicles in the first ten months of 2013, for the first time the sales volume of this continent were lower than sales of the Asian continent.


The American manufacturer is going to reduce the production of the B-Max minivan in its Romanian plant, Ford is reducing its production for the third consecutive month in response to a weak demand from Europe. Sales of its C-Max and S-Max are also down, the minivan market is declining in Europe because of the rising demand for SUVs. The current range of Ford minivans appears cramped, because of the Ka, Fiesta, Focus, Kuga and Mondeo. Thanks to its recent restyling only the Ford Fiesta was able to progress.


The arrival of an SUV in segment B (the Ecosport) could improve the carmaker's position.

 
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The new Nissan Rogue will be produced in Korea and the USA
 

The Japanese Nissan Rogue was until this year an SUV whose range was situated between the Murano and Qashqai. It was sold exclusively in North America. From 2014, the new Rogue will be identical to the new Nissan X-Trail (never sold in North America),

 


The Rogue has become the second best-selling Nissan model in the United States, behind the Altima sedan. In the first nine months of 2013, 124 669 units were sold, which represents an annual rate of 160 000 units.


All the Rogues sold in North America are currently from Japan. But the new Nissan policy to reduce exports from Japan to North America has led the carmaker to produce half in South Korea and the other half in the United States.


Renault-Samsung will therefore assemble 80 000 Rogue per year at its plant in Busan starting from the second half of 2014. The entire production will be exported to North America, which will allow Nissan to meet the high demand for this model in the U.S. market.


Nissan will start the production of the new Rogue at its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, at a rate of 80 000 units per year starting from the second half of 2014.

 
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Toyota will launch a small series of fuel cell cars in 2015
 
Electric cars equipped with fuel cells have the advantage of making their own electricity by converting the hydrogen stored in a tank into electricity to run an electric motor and operate the car. Traditional electric cars equipped with batteries don't produce their own electricity and need to be recharged.

Fuel cell car’s autonomy is higher than electric battery car’s, since it depends only on the presence or absence of hydrogen in the tank. This type of car emits only water vapour.

But the manufacture of hydrogen (off-vehicle or in-vehicle) and  storage of fuel (hydrogen, methane, alcohol) in recharging stations remains a difficult issue of such vehicles.

In spite of  the difficulties to market such cars in significant volume, many prototypes have been developed by carmakers in recent years. General Motors and Toyota have in particular conducted tests (thanks to the Chevrolet Equinox and Toyota Highlander), as well as Hyundai-Kia and Renault-Nissan (on the Hyundai iX35 and Nissan X-Trail).

Some carmakers want now to test the concept on the roads. Honda was the first to market a fuel cell car (Honda FCX Clarity), sixty copies were sold worldwide (mainly in California) since 2008 for $600 per month.

Mercedes followed Honda by launching the B-Class equipped with a fuel cell (for 850 dollars a month). These models were destined to carry out full-scale tests. A production in small volume  could be launched in 2015.

But only Toyota has announced its plans to launch in 2015 a small series of cars equipped with fuel cells, unveiled under the form of a prototype named FCV.
 
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Volkswagen will launch its low price vehicle in 2016
 
Volkswagen announced it would launch its low price vehicle in China in 2016. The future model (segment A) will be marketed under a new brand at a price averaged under 8,000€.

The German group could sell this model throughout Southeast Asia and India, but it does not intend to sell this vehicle on the European market, in order not to penalize the Volkswagen Seat and Skoda brands present in the region. These brands offer indeed city cars such as the Up, Mii and Citigo at rates between 9,000 and 10,000 €.

Volkswagen, who up to now was absent from the segment of low price cars, believes that this segment has great potential. According to its own estimates, 8 million low price vehicles were sold worldwide in 2012, representing more than 10% of the global car market.

According to Volkswagen, the global market for low price cars is expected to double by 2018, from 8 million to 16 million units, which represent the volume of the entire European market (all models) at that date.

It is to be noted that Volkswagen will launch its low price model in partnership with FAW, one of its two Chinese partners who manufactured in 2013 nearly a million and a half vehicles for the German carmaker.
 
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