Opel will be the only European carmaker to offer a BEV equivalent to each of its models in 2024
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Opel will be the only European carmaker to offer a BEV equivalent to each of its models in 2024
- Opel (a subsidiary of the Stellantis group) will become the only European carmaker to offer a battery electric vehicle (BEV) equivalent to each of its models in 2024.
- Indeed, the entire range of the carmaker will soon be available in a pure battery electric version.
1. The Corsa (B-segment sedan), the Mokka (B-segment SUV), the Astra (C-segment sedan) as well as the Combo (N1-1), Vivaro (N1-2) and Movano (N1-3) light utility vehicles are already available in a battery electric version.
2. Will be available in a BEV version in 2024: the Crossland (B-segment SUV) and Grandland (C-segment SUV) when they are renewed in 2024.
- As for the D-segment sedan, the Insignia, it has just disappeared and will never have a battery electric version. But a new D-segment model (probably named Manta) is expected to be launched in 2025 or 2026 with a battery electric version. Opel says it wants to offer only BEVs from 2028.
- What is the share of BEVs within the Opel models range in the first 5 months of 2023? BEVs represent 13% of Corsa sales during this period, 24% of Mokka sales, 12% of Combo sales, 27% of Vivaro sales. For the Astra and the Movano, it is still too early to have significant figures.
- We can see that by observing these data, it will be difficult for Opel to achieve its goal of selling 100% of BEVs in five years.
The market share of BEVs in Eastern European countries will remain very low in 2023
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The market share of BEVs in Eastern European countries will remain very low in 2023
- The market share of BEVs reached 13% of the total passenger car sales in Europe at the end of the first quarter of 2023, compared to 12% at the end of the first quarter of 2022. But the distribution by country is far from uniform. Europe is even cut in two: BEVs have a share of more than 13% in 14 countries and a share of less than 13% in 15 countries.
- Among the 14 countries where BEVs represent more than 13% of sales, we note the presence of 14 countries from the former Western Europe region (17 countries), but southern countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain are not included.
- The most fervent adopters of BEVs are the countries of the North, with Norway at the forefront (Norway: 85%; Sweden: 36%; Finland: 31%; Denmark: 30%). Next come central countries with high purchasing power (Netherlands: 26%; Luxembourg: 19%; Austria: 18%; Switzerland: 17%), then three other countries (Portugal: 16%; Ireland: 16%; Belgium: 16%) and finally the three largest European countries (United Kingdom: 15%; France: 15%; Germany: 14%). We note that Germany is neck and neck with France, despite three national carmakers very involved in BEV technology (Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes).
- The 15 countries whose BEVs represent less than 13% of the market, in addition to Greece, Italy and Spain mentioned above, are the 12 countries of the former Eastern Europe region, i.e. the former satellite countries of the Soviet Union and the latest arrivals in the European Union. For these countries, switching to battery electric vehicles from 2035 is clearly mission impossible. It should be noted that the countries where the BEV market share is the lowest are Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Ford, a brand that is gradually focusing on North America
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Ford, a brand that is gradually focusing on North America
- The Ford brand is the entry-level brand of the Ford group. For many years it has been at the forefront of the American market, in competition with Chevrolet and Toyota. Its F-Series pick-up has been the best-selling of all models on the American market since the 1980s and is often among the best-selling models in the world.
- This worldwide success of the Ford brand dates from the appearance of the Ford T launched in 1908 which quickly became the best-selling car in the world, with more than 15 million copies sold until 1927. The Ford brand completed its range by the top with the acquisition of the Lincoln brand in 1921 then the creation of the mid-range brand Mercury in 1939. The crisis of 2008/2009 resulted in the end of the Mercury brand.
- The following years were marked by the closing of production sites in Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, India and Russia. The global production of the Ford brand fell dramatically between 2005 and 2022 (despite a strong rebound in the years 2015-2016-2017) falling from 5.4 million in 2005 to 3.7 million last year, which represents a drop of 30%. Worse, between 2017 and 2022, the production of the Ford brand fell from 6.1 million to 3.7 million, which represents a drop of 40%. Its production in Europe fell by 60% between 2005 and 2022. Its production in South America even fell by 90% over this period! The development of its production in China was just a flash in the pan. Production in North America now represents 60% of Ford's worldwide production compared to 55% in 2005.
- Even if Ford announces strong investments for the electrification of its range in Europe, it can be said that Ford seems to be gradually withdrawing into North America, with an effort focused particularly on pick-ups and SUVs as sedans have been successively abandoned in recent years.
The Big Three have lost much of their influence since 1960
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The Big Three have lost much of their influence since 1960
- The carmakers that are called the "Big Three", because they are the three largest American groups (GM, Ford, Chrysler) and because they were the three largest carmakers in the world between the 1930s and 1960s, still represent today 40% of automobile sales in the United States (PCs including pick-ups and SUVs), compared to 90% in 1960, 83% in 1970, 74% in 1980, 72% in 1990 and 70% in 2000.
- The decline in their influence was accentuated in the 2000s, their market share having shrunk to 45% in 2010, following the financial crisis of 2008-2009 which caused the successive bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler.
- Saved narrowly by the American government for the GM group and by Fiat for the Chrysler group, these two carmakers have continued their activity, but in more modest proportions.
- This decline in the influence of the "Big Three" in the USA (in favour of Japanese and Korean brands) was accompanied by the end of several of their automobile brands, such as Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Saturn at GM, Edsel and Mercury at Ford, De Soto, Imperial and Plymouth at Chrysler, some of these brands having been phased out as early as the 1960s.
- It should be added that the former AMC group (4th American carmaker) was bought by the Chrysler group in 1987, which only kept the Jeep brand specializing in SUVs from this group. After the takeover of Chrysler by Fiat, it was decided to separate Dodge pick-ups from Dodge passenger cars and thus created the Ram brand specializing in pick-ups. In 2021, the Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) group merged with the Peugeot-Citroën (PSA) group to create the Stellantis group.
Lincoln, a fragile Premium brand
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Lincoln, a fragile Premium brand
- The Lincoln brand represents the top of the range of the Ford group, thus competing for decades with the Cadillac brand of the GM group. It could have taken over the customers of the Mercury brand (mid -range brand of the Ford group ended in 2010) but apparently it only occurred in half, because even if Lincoln sales doubled between 2009/2010 and 2022, it is mainly because this brand was marketed on the Chinese market from the end of the 2010s and that it was able to attract a new customer –basis who were looking for premium models.
- Despite this recent establishment in China, the Lincoln brand seems fragile, as its sales volumes remain relatively low (less than 200,000 worldwide sales per year, i.e. less than half the volume of Cadillac), its sales have collapsed in the United States and a departure from China in the long term is not a totally improbable scenario.
- In fact, we observe that Chinese customers have been buying more and more cars from Chinese brands for several years (54% of passenger car sales in China over 5 months 2023 compared to 49% over 5 months 2022), increasingly abandoning foreign cars, and brands with low sales volumes (such as Lincoln) are the most threatened.
- Additionally, Lincoln duplicated Ford's strategy of removing sedans from the US market, thereby removing some of its traditional customer base. Finally, the Lincoln brand has not yet entered the era of electrification, which can be a problem if we compare it to other carmakers, in particular to German Premium brands.
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