The Renault plant in Pitesti stopped the production of the Sandero
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The Renault plant in Pitesti stopped the production of the Sandero
- The Dacia Sandero appeared in 2007 to complete the range of the Romanian carmaker which was only proposing the Logan at this time. Compared to the Logan with trunk and sedan body, the Sandero offers a hatchback body. Its production was launched in Romania, at the Dacia plant in Pitesti, alongside the Logan. Renewed in 2012 and then in 2020, the Dacia Sandero started the production in Morocco in 2012, in two different factories (Tangier and Casablanca). Today, only the two Moroccan plants supply Dacia Sandero in European and the North African markets.
- The Tangier plant has been chosen to produce 150,000 Sanderos per year on average, up to 174,000 units in 2022. The Casablanca plant has for its part increased its production volume of the Sandero, lower than that of Tangier, reaching 50,000 units in 2018-2020, up to 75,000 units in 2022.
- The Pitesti plant, meanwhile, only produced an average of 50,000 Sanderos per year over the period 2014-2021, compared to 150,000 in 2009 and 2010, before falling to 3,000 units in 2022. In 2023, production of the Dacia Sandero has ceased at its historic Pitesti site.
- There were other factories located in Russia and South America for the demand in these two specific markets, but with much lower production volumes. The Russian factory stopped production of the Sandero in 2022, following the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The South American plant continues at low rates.
Renault and Nissan will become two partner groups
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Renault and Nissan will become two partner groups
- The Renault-Nissan group set up in 1999 (following the takeover of Nissan by Renault) until now consisted of the Renault group (Renault, Dacia, Alpine) and the Nissan group (Nissan, Infiniti, Mitsubishi). This Franco-Japanese group managed to gradually become the world's leading car carmaker in 2017 and 2018, before falling to fourth place in 2022, behind the Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai-Kia groups.
- But the agreement in principle between Renault and Nissan at the beginning of the year (the most important point of which will be the sale of 28% of Renault's shares in Nissan) will result in a new independence regained for the two Renault and Nissan groups.
Each of the two carmakers not having control over the other (Renault will hold 15% of Nissan and Nissan 15% of Renault). But these two groups should remain partners.
Each of the two carmakers not having control over the other (Renault will hold 15% of Nissan and Nissan 15% of Renault). But these two groups should remain partners.
- In this new context, how will the two groups present themselves to the competition, in terms of sales and production? In this scenario, the Nissan group would be the world's sixth largest carmaker in 2022 and the Renault group the world's thirteenth largest carmaker.
- Renault Group has confirmed that it wants to produce 500,000 BEVs in 2026 and 1,000,000 BEVs in 2030 (including 700,000 BEVs produced in Hauts-de-France region at the Douai and Maubeuge plants). Inovev forecasts for its part 450,000 BEVs produced by Renault in the Hauts de France in 2030. Renault sold 160,000 BEVs in 2022 including 48,887 Spring, 40,544 Zoé, 33,211 Megane E-Tech, 27,146 Twingo ZE, 8,655 Kangoo ZE and 785 Master ZE. In addition to these Renault and Dacia models, the Nissan Townstar BEV and Mercedes Citan BEV produced in France, whose sales did not exceed 15,000 units in total in 2022.
Diesel continues to decline on the European market
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Diesel continues to decline on the European market
- Diesel sales continues to decrease on the European car market. After increasing its market share in Europe to 55.7% in 2011, sales of passenger cars with diesel engines began to decline. Modest at first, since this market share had gradually slipped to 50% in five years until 2016, this decline then accelerated, falling to 45% in 2017, 36% in 2018, 32% in 2019, 20 % in 2020, 18% in 2021 and 15% in 2022. The fall continues in the first quarter of 2023 with a market share which fell to 13% of the European market.
- Diesel demand plummeted as this type of engine emitted significantly less C02 than petrol engines, and the level of particulates emitted had become of the same order of magnitude as what petrol-powered vehicles emits.
- In five years (from 2017 to 2022), diesel has lost 30% of market share, dropping from 45% to 15%, while battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hybrid vehicles (HEV+PHEV) have seen at the same time, their market share rose from 4% to 31%, representing an increase of 27% in absolute terms.
- Alternative-powered cars have therefore almost entirely replaced diesel cars in Europe, if their market share is taken into account. Petrol cars have also benefited from the decline in diesel cars, with some customers switching from a diesel car to a petrol car. On the other hand, for light utility vehicles (LUVs), demand is still mainly concentrated on diesel engines (95% in 2022). LUV sales represent 12.5% of light vehicle sales in Europe.
Restocking in 2022 offset the destocking of 2020 & 2021 period
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Restocking in 2022 offset the destocking of 2020 & 2021 period
- For the first time since 2018, the production volume in the world was much higher last year than that the sales volume. According to the OICA (International Organization of Automobile carmakers), the global production volume of vehicles (passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, heavy duty trucks and buses) reached 85.017 million units in 2022 while vehicle registrations did not exceed 81.629 million units, representing a production surplus of 3.388 million units. There was indeed a restocking at the global level in 2022.
- This production surplus offsets the production volume deficit recorded in 2020 and 2021, two years which were marked by the COVID 19 crisis and then by the semiconductor crisis. This deficit in production volume had reached 3.775 million units over the two years, with sales then being made massively from stock.
- In conclusion, there was significant destocking in 2020 and 2021 globally, as vehicle registrations outnumbered vehicles produced. Then there was a compensatory restocking in 2022 which made it possible to meet demand and reduce delivery times which had increased considerably in the two previous years due to a lack of models in dealers and a production disrupted by chaotic supplies.
- This restocking enabled world production to record growth in 2022 (+6% according to the OICA) while registrations fell by 2%.
This distortion is visible among carmakers who have seen their sales decline for most of them and the same time seen their production increase.
This distortion is visible among carmakers who have seen their sales decline for most of them and the same time seen their production increase.
The top 25 best-selling models in Europe in 2022
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The top 25 best-selling models in Europe in 2022
- The European passenger car market reached 11,287,005 units in 2022, compared to 11,762,568 units in 2021 and 11,951,813 in 2020, corresponding to a decrease of 1.6% in 2022 compared to 2021 and a decrease of 5.5% compared to 2020.
- The Peugeot 208 was the best selling model of the European market in 2022, thus ousting the Volkswagen Golf which had been the best-selling car in Europe since 2007. It should be noted that a Peugeot had already been the European market leader in 2002 and in 2003, it was the Peugeot 206. The Dacia Sandero manages to take second place in the European market in 2022 (it was fifth in 2021), thus supplanting the Volkswagen Golf which is now in third position. It could be explained by the competition of the Volkswagen T-Roc which goes from 6th place to 5th in 2022. The Fiat 500 reaches 4th place (previous and new generations), whereas it was 9th in 2021. The battery electric version (500e) has boosted sales of the model. Remember that the Fiat 500e was the most produced 100% electric car in Europe in 2022. The Opel Corsa manages to reach 6th place when it was 7th in 2021, ahead of the Toyota Yaris which goes from 8th to 7th place.
- Three sharp drops in 2022: the Peugeot 2008 goes from 3rd to 9th place, the Renault Clio goes from 4th to 11th place and the Volkswagen Polo which goes from 13th to 20th place.
- Two strong increases in 2022: the Tesla Model Y goes from 15th to 10th place and the Toyota Yaris Cross which enters the Top 25 in 22nd place.
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