The Tata Nano has failed to establish itself in the Indian market
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- The Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world, was produced to power the popular people masses in India, where the motorization rate is still very low. When the model was introduced in 2008, it created sensation, partly due to its price of 1560 euros, a price defying any competition.
- The carmaker was indeed targeting two-wheelers users (numerous in India) with this minimalist model. Tata’s objective was selling in a first phase 250,000 Nanos per year, and then then 500,000 per year. But difficulties in the construction of a dedicated plant, then the 2008 financial crisis forced the carmaker to postpone the vehicle’s SOP Start of Production) to 2009.
- Due to multiple difficulties and Nano’s transfer from the initially planned plant to another one, as well as significant investment realized for the acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover, Tata had to increase the price of the Nano by 25%, to 1,950 euros. The carmaker managed to sell 17,500 vehicles in 2009 and 60,000 vehicles in 2010, instead of 250,000 vehicles planned.
- Due to the increase in cost of raw materials, Nano’s price jumped then to 2 700 euros. For this price, many Indian customers prefer to buy a used car, which is more rewarding and more livable. Consequently, the Nano sales could not exceed 70,000 vehicles in 2011 and 80,000 vehicles in 2012. At this rate, the Tata Nano will hardly exceed the 100,000 vehicles annual sales. Manufacturer's dream to motorize the Indian masses with this model became a wishful thinking.
Read more... The Tata Nano has failed to establish itself in the Indian market
Top ten of assembly plants in Europe in 2012
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Top ten of assembly plants in North America in 2012
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It is to be noted that top ten is made up of five Japanese plants, two Korean plants, one German plant and only two American plants.
This highlights the weakness of North-American carmakers plants, much older.
Read more... Top ten of assembly plants in North America in 2012
The Dutch market has weathered the crisis of 2008-2009
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- The Dutch market has weathered the crisis of 2008-2009. 500 000 passenger cars were sold each year in 2007 and 2008. Then the registration number fell down to 400,000 vehicles in 2009 but increased again in 2010 (500 000 vehicles) and 2011 (550,000 vehicles) . It came back in 2012 down to its pre-crisis figure (500,000 vehicles).
- The Dutch market had reached a peak of 598,000 vehicles in 2000 and then had stabilized at 500,000 vehicles between 2001 and 2008.
- This market is characterized by a high proportion of small cars (segment A and segment B) in best sold cars. Thus, in 2012, VW Polo (19 000), 107 (16,000), VW Up (13,000) Renault Twingo (12, 000) Kia Picanto (11,000), Ford Fiesta (10,000) and Toyota Yaris (10,000) are in the top ten. It is a segment breakdown which cannot be found in other European countries.
- Considering the carmakers, the Volkswagen Group is the market leader (Polo, Golf and Up are in the top 10 of sales) ahead of PSA and Renault-Nissan which are both small car specialists (107, 207, 208, C1, C3, DS3, Twingo, Clio, Modus). The Korean group Hyundai-Kia is occupies the fourth position in the market, a rare phenomenon in Europe. American groups GM and Ford have lost a lot of influence over the past ten years.
Data source: File #55 - Registrations in the World by makes
Read more... The Dutch market has weathered the crisis of 2008-2009
Volkswagen plans to open seven new plants in China
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- The Volkswagen Group plans to open seven new plants in China in the years to come, one more than originally planned. In total, nineteen plants will therefore be available for the Volkswagen group production in 2018. In addition, the group plans to build three more plants in the world (India, Russia, Mexico), including two Audi ones. Currently, the Volkswagen Group benefits from 100 plants worldwide.
- The construction of seven new plants should allow the Volkswagen Group to achieve its goal to increase its production in China by half by 2018, to 4 million vehicles (against 2.63 million in 2012).
- The first three new plants in China - Urumqi, Foshan and Ningbo- should be operational by the end of 2013. The following three ones should open between late 2014 and late 2015. The seventh one should be operational by the end of 2016. The seven plants will each have a production capacity of 200,000 vehicles per year (1.4 million in total).
- Thanks to these new plants, Volkswagen will increase its production capacity to more than 4 million vehicles a year in China in 2018. Such a capacity exceeds the sales planned in China in the same year.
- Volkswagen group Chinese production accounted for 28% of its global production last year.
Read more... Volkswagen plans to open seven new plants in China