Category Blog

Details: Published: 06 September 2022

Eastern Germany has increased the number of its factories by 2.5 since 1990

- Before the reunification of Germany in October 1990, the eastern region grouped under the name GDR (German Democratic Republic) had two auto plants: one located in Zwickau (a former Auto Union factory before 1945) that made the Trabant (100,000 units per year from 1958 to 1990) and the other located in Eisenach (a former BMW factory before 1945) that made the Wartburg (50 000 copies per year from 1966 to 1990).

- In 1990 the Zwickau plant was taken over by Volkswagen (to manufacture the Golf) and the Eisenach plant was taken over by Opel (to manufacture the Astra and Corsa),the former owners (Auto Union and BMW ) did not wish to take over these sites.

- BMW returned however in 2004 to this region to build a plant in Leipzig.

- Volkswagen built a factory in Dresden in 2001 and Porsche built one in Leipzig in 2002.

- Today, the eastern part of Germany, which enjoys lower costs than in the western part, has five factories whose overall production capacity reached 700,000 vehicles per year (against 200 000 in 1990).

- Last year, these five plants produced 593,000 vehicles (against 603,000 in 2011).

Data source: File #101 - Worldwide production detailed by models

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Details: Published: 06 September 2022

Nissan and Mitsubishi join forces on midgets (Kei Cars)

- Nissan and Mitsubishi started joint production of a Midget (mini-vehicle less than 660 cm3) in Mitsubishi's Mizushima plant (where is already manufactured the i-Miev), which will be sold from the 6th June, under the names DAYZ and DAYZ Highway Star for Nissan, and under the names eK Wagon and eK Custom for Mitsubishi.

- Nissan and Mitsubishi together account for only 10% of the Japanese market for midgets, most of the market is occupied by Daihatsu and Suzuki. By cooperating, they think they can double this to reach 20%.

- Daihatsu and Suzuki currently dominate the Japanese market midgets, with a share of about 30% each, while Honda is third with 20%. Subaru and Mazda together account for 10%.

- Of all the Japanese passenger car registrations (PC), the midgets represent more than a third of the market (34% in 2012 against 32.3% in 2011 and 30.5% in 2010). The previous sales record dating back to 2008 (33.8% market share). Prior to 2006, the market share of midgets on Japanese soil was less than 30%.

- So we are indeed witnessing a shift in the Japanese market to small cars, probably for matters of price, economy and size. Midget thus move more easily in cities and enjoy tax exemptions and parking facilities.

Data source: File #101 - Worldwide production detailed by models

Contact us: info@inovev.com

Details: Published: 06 September 2022

VW will launch its low price brand with FAW

- Volkswagen said it would launch its low-priced brand with a Chinese carmaker, and that Chinese partner would be FAW and not SAIC. This future brand should be released over the next three years. Eventually, several models are expected to be launched in China and India and the entire South-East Asia region.

- Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Volkswagen Group, said the group wanted to launch a first cheap model for the Chinese market at a price between 6000 and 7000 euros, i.e. a comparable price that of Dacia Logan in Europe, which is not sold in China.

- With this new model, Volkswagen wants to compete with the vehicles offered by the Chinese joint ventures working with other international carmakers as well as those offered by independent Chinese brands.

- This announcement is interesting for several reasons: 1 - Volkswagen will not conceive alone its future low price models , unlike Renault who designed the Logan and Sandero alone. 2 / Volkswagen will not sell its low-cost models under its own brand, as Renault did with Dacia. 3 / Volkswagen think there is a market for cheap cars in China as the market is currently more focused on the mid-range and premium segments. 4 / FAW is already present on the cheap car market (Xiali) with limited success, such as the Chery QQ already on the market.

Data source: File #55 - Registrations in the World by makes

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Details: Published: 06 September 2022

Registrations

Luxury brands aren't affected by the crisis

- Luxury brands (the three Italian ones Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, and the three British ones Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, Bentley) aren't affected by the crisis. If they saw their sales fall by half in 1993 compared to 1990 (from 10,000 to 5000 annual sales), they have a much more diversified offer since that date (Ferrari now offers five different models, as Bentley and Aston Martin) and benefited from a global growth (especially China) between 2004 and 2008.

- Thus, luxury brands have increased from 12,000 to 35,000 annually during this period, thus multiplying their sales by three in four years.

- Bentley and Aston Martin particularly benefited from these two phenomena (global diversification and growth), but Ferrari and Maserati have also benefit significantly from these phenomena. Following the financial crisis of 2008, sales of these brands dropped to 20,000 units per year, but as of 2010 they were able to bounce back to 32 000 units in 2012.

- Luxury brands looks to the future with confidence. The objectives of Maserati are reaching 50,000 annual sales within three years, with the launch of several new models, including an SUV. Although the five other brands do not have such ambitious goals, they assume a significant increase in sales over the next ten years.

Data source: File #55 - Registrations in the World by makes

Contact us: info@inovev.com

Details: Published: 06 September 2022

Registrations

Increase the European passenger car market in April 2013

- Over the four cumulative months of 2013, the European passenger car market (27 countries) further decreased (-6.7%) to 4,180,137 units. This decrease is small compared to the cumulative 3 months (-9.5%), and even compared to the 4 months of 2012 where we recorded a decrease of 7.8% compared to 4 months of 2011.

- However, and for the first time since September 2011, the European market grew in April 2013 (2.1%) compared to April 2012, to 1,085,547 units.

- It seems that the European market is picking up at the beginning of second quarter of 2013, instead of the second half as expected and this thanks to rebooting of the car market in Germany and Spain

- Four carmakers perform well given the decline of 6.7% of the market: BMW Group (-1.1%), Hyundai-Kia Group (-0.4%), Daimler Group (2.8%) Tata Group (12.7%). The new Class A very successful in Europe boosted the sales of the Mercedes brand. Renault-Nissan and Volkswagen manage a loss inferior to that of the market as a whole. They therefore managed to increase their market share.

- At the current pace, the European market could in the coming months approach the figures recorded in 2012, which certainly are poorer than those of 2011, but let us recall that some manufacturers forecasts expected a decline of 5% market share in 2013 compared to 2012.