The US MPV market by carmaker in Q1-2021
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The US MPV market by carmaker in Q1-2021
- MPVs represent 2.3% of the US market in the first quarter of 2021, to 91,695 units, steadily declining for twenty years. It is to remind that in the 90s, the MPV category accounted for up to 1.3 million sales per year in the United States, with a major leader: the Chrysler group with the Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth brands. With the increasing success of SUVs, the MPV market has continued to drop the United States, and this trend has been seen in Europe, Russia and China.
- Who are the best sellers of MPVs in the US market today? The Stellantis group has managed to maintain the leading position of the FCA group, thanks to the Chrysler Pacifica, also available for a few months under a simplified version named Chrysler Voyager. This model was previously produced under the Plymouth brand which reigned in the MPV market for about fifteen years, then under the Chrysler brand, after the discontinuation of the Plymouth brand, and which was marketed for more than twenty years in Europe.
- In the first quarter of 2021, less than 35,000 units of MPVs were sold in the USA by Stellantis, which still represents 38% of this small MPV market. GM and Ford having exit this market for a long time, only the Japanese carmakers Toyota (with the Sienna model) and Honda (with the Odyssey) remain, which occupy second and third place in this market. Nissan also exit this market after the Quest was discontinued. A final series of the Dodge Caravan still exists today but this brand will stop marketing MPVs before the end of this year. Finally, Kia is trying to enter this market modestly.
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Suzuki increases production capacity in India
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Suzuki increases production capacity in India
- Suzuki has completed the construction of its new plant in India, located in Gujarat, with a capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year. This new site will bring Suzuki's total capacity in Gujarat to 750,000 units per year. The carmaker has two other plants in this state, with a capacity of 250,000 units per year each. In total, with this third plant in Gujarat, Suzuki's production capacity in India will increase from 2 million to 2.25 million units per year, which he believes will meet the demand of the domestic market, but also of the foreign markets.
- Indeed, despite the Indian market decline recorded in 2019 and 2020, the Japanese carmaker believes in its strong potential and in a rapid recovery of sales in the country. The peak of the Indian market was reached in 2018, with a volume of 4.4 million registrations (PCs + LUVs) and Suzuki expects this level to be reached again in the next two years. Given that Suzuki's market share in India is around 50%, the carmaker calculated that to represent 50% of a market equal to 4.4 million units, it needed a production capacity 2.2 million vehicles per year.
- According to Inovev, Suzuki's bet is quite risky as there is no indication that the Indian market will reach a new high in 2022 or 2023. There is also nothing to say that Suzuki will achieve a 50% market share in this country. In 2018, in a market of 4.4 million vehicles, Suzuki produced only 1.875 million. Finally, Suzuki is no longer in tune with global demand (SUVs, hybrid and electric cars) explaining the difficulties of the parent company. Its exports are therefore likely to suffer.
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Inovev forecasts 30,000 sales in 2022 of the Audi Q4 E-Tron SUV
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Inovev forecasts 30,000 sales in 2022 of the Audi Q4 E-Tron SUV
- Audi has unveiled its battery electric C-segment SUV which shares the MEB platform with the Volkswagen ID 3 and ID 4. This 4.59 m long SUV is placed in terms of dimensions between the Q3 (4.49 m) and the Q5 (4.69m), that's why it's named Q4 E-Tron. This model will be available in classic and Sportback versions, as for the Q5 and E-Tron.
- The E-Tron model is not at all in competition with the Q4 E-Tron because it is 4.90 m long and is much more expensive: 72,000 to 97,000 euros, while the Q4 E-Tron will be proposed in a price range between 42,000 and 53,000 euros for the standard version and between 44,000 and 55,000 euros for the Sportback version. It is to remind that a Volkswagen ID 3 is priced from 34,000 to 49,000 euros and an ID 4 from 39,000 to 54,000 euros.
- The Audi Q4 E-Tron has a maximum range of 520 km according to the WLTP cycle, thanks to a battery of 52 kWh or 77 kWh. The model will be available in full Quattro version as an option (power equivalent to 300 hp, against 170 hp and 204 hp in rear-wheel drive version).
- The Audi Q4 E-Tron is expected to be produced at the Zwickau (Germany) plant alongside the technically very similar Volkswagen ID 3 and ID 4. Given the continued sales growth of electric cars in the European market, the Audi Q4 E-Tron is expected to be produced in 10,000 units in 2021, 30,000 units in 2022 and 40,000 units in 2023. It is expected to reach 50,000 copies per year in the following years, requiring an increase of the production capacity of the Zwickau plant, which is currently set at 200,000 vehicles per year, the ID3 and ID4 representing 170,000 to 200,000 units per year both.
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Read more... Inovev forecasts 30,000 sales in 2022 of the Audi Q4 E-Tron SUV
Peugeot 208 became the best-selling car in Europe in the first quarter of 2021
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Peugeot 208 became the best-selling car in Europe in the first quarter of 2021
- The Volkswagen Golf remained for several decades the best-selling car in Europe and the most produced in Europe. Over the past fifteen years, it has only given up its position as European market leader once, in 2006, in favor of the Renault Clio, a new generation of which had just appeared in autumn 2005.
- Over the past two years, the Golf had significantly reduced its lead over its followers, in particular the Renault Clio, in part due to the increase in sales of the Volkswagen Tiguan and T-Roc, SUVs derived from the Golf, but also more recently due to of the increase in sales of the other C-segment model of the Volkswagen brand, the ID3. But while the ID3 recorded 56,500 sales in 2020 (compared to 0 in 2019), the Golf lost 105,000 sales in 2020 compared to 2019.
- In the first three months of 2021, the Volkswagen Golf loses its leadership position. It is no longer the best-selling car in Europe (55,000 sales). It was overtaken not by the Renault Clio (52,000 sales) but by the Peugeot 208 (64,000 sales) which thus took the lead for the first time in its history. The volume of electric versions represents 15% of Peugeot 208 sales.
- What is quite spectacular is that the Peugeot 208 sales are not cannibalized by the Peugeot 2008 (SUV derived from the 208). The Peugeot 2008 (52,000 sales) is in fact in fifth position in the first quarter of 2021, in sharply increase compared to 2020. It remains to be seen whether this will continue throughout 2021 or whether the VW Golf will take over shares from the 208.
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Read more... Peugeot 208 became the best-selling car in Europe in the first quarter of 2021
Toyota get nearly 5% of Isuzu capital
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Toyota get nearly 5% of Isuzu capital
- The Toyota group, the world's largest carmaker in 2020, is getting its hands on all the Japanese carmakers that were independent ten years ago. After the takeover of Daihatsu and Hino in the late 1960s (but Daihatsu became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota only since 2016), the Toyota group was taken by surprise when Mitsubishi was acquired by Nissan in 2016.
- It was therefore pushing by taking a 5% of Mazda in 2017, then in August 2019 a 5% stake of Suzuki, then increased its participation in Subaru to 20% in September 2019. Finally in March 2021, Toyota has taken an almost 5% stake in Isuzu. The first Japanese carmaker has therefore united most of the Japanese automobile industry around it. Even if it is not a total control of the other Japanese carmakers, the Toyota group is involved in nearly 70% of the Japanese car market and its competitors are down to two, Honda and Nissan-Mitsubishi, two major carmakers that it will one day have little chance to control.
- Isuzu produces and markets utility vehicles, primarily trucks and pick-ups. Its range is therefore quite in competition with Toyota (pick-up) and Hino (trucks), just as Suzuki is also a competitor of Daihatu, and Mazda and Subaru are also competitors of Toyota. Ultimately, this strategy could allow synergies in the sharing of components or even platforms. Toyota's move also helps lock down the Japanese auto industry and prevent any possibility of a takeover of a Japanese carmaker by another Japanese or foreign one.
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