European market disrupted by new WLTP standards since July 2018
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European market disrupted by new WLTP standards since July 2018
- The European VP market (29 countries) has been severely disrupted since July 2018 due to new cars obligation to become compliant with the new WLTP standards.
- The European market grew by 10% in July 2018 and by 30% in August 2018, while the increase in the first half did not exceed 2.8%. This sudden and spectacular increase is largely due to the need to de-stock as many vehicles as possible approved under the old NEDC protocol. From 1 September 2018, manufacturers had to market their models according to the new WLTP protocol, which requires new engine settings. There is also uncertainty about the levels of CO2 emissions under the WLTP protocol and therefore the taxation to be applied after September 1, which encouraged companies to anticipate their fleet renewals. There was also an unusually high proportion of vehicles registered as demonstration models.
- These over-registrations, due to massive destocking of models built to the old NEDC standards, are in fact anticipated purchases that will therefore not be occurring in the last quarter of 2018.
- This is why we expect a decline in the European market in the last four months of the year, but the car production should however benefit from the recovery of inventories in WLTP standards vehicles.
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Inovev forecasts 100,000 annual sales of the new generation Mercedes B-Class
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Inovev forecasts 100,000 annual sales of the new generation Mercedes B-Class
- Mercedes has unveiled the new generation of its compact minivan (C segment ) B Class, at the Paris Motorshow. This model continues in the general style of its predecessor, and is built on the same platform as the Class A (MFA2). It is part of a category in decline (monospaces), and the B-Class has itself dropped by 32% in terms of sales between 2013 and 2018 (from 132 000 to 90 000 units), while the European market as a whole grew by 26% . But Mercedes intends to launch a successor to the current Class B, as its rival BMW is reasonably successful with its Compact Active Tourer minivan (and its extended version Gran Tourer) which has reached nearly 120 000 units in 2017 and which will not be replaced until 2021.
- As before, the Mercedes B-Class will be manufactured on the Hungarian site of Kecskemét, alongside the CLA and Class A Sedan. The new model takes the engines of the Class A, that is to say the 4 cylinder petrol 1.3 engine of Renault origin (developing 134hp and 161hp) and the 4 cylinder diesel 1.5 engine of Renault origin (developing 114hp), as well as the new Mercedes 2.0 4-cylinder diesel engine (developing 148hp and 188hp) known as OM654.
- An EQB version, that is to say the 100% electric version, should be unveiled next year.
- Inovev expects 100,000 annual sales for the new generation B-Class.
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Volkswagen increases capacity at Wolfsburg plant
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Volkswagen increases capacity at Wolfsburg plant
- The Volkswagen Group plans to increase the annual output of its Wolfsburg plant to one million units by 2020, a figure never reached by any other plant in Europe or Russia. Currently, the capacity of the Wolfsburg plant is 900,000 vehicles per year, and the manufacturer believes it is necessary and feasible to increase these capacities by 10% by 2020. Formerly the historic stronghold of the Volkswagen Beetle (1938-1978), this plant today manufactures Volkswagen Golf sedans, Volkswagen Tiguan SUVs and Volkswagen Touran minivans, all based on the MQB platform.
- The arrival of Seat Tarraco on this site may explain the willingness of the manufacturer to increase production capacity in Wolfsburg. In general, the launch of the new SUVs of the Volkswagen Group has boosted its production in Europe.
- All of the Group's factories in Europe are now operating at full capacity, notably in Wolfsburg (900,000 units produced every year since 2014), in Pamplona (325,000 units produced in 2018), where the T-Cross will be added to the Polo, next year in Martorell (490 000 units produced in 2018) where the Audi A1 will be added this month to the different Seat models. The Audi plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm are at the limit of saturation. Skoda factories are also on the verge of saturation in the Czech Republic, due to the success of Karoq, Kodiaq and Ateca. Finally, the Slovak factory in Bratislava, which is running at full capacity, has just been assigned production of the new Touareg and the Audi Q8.
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Great Wall will start producing vehicles in Russia in 2019
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Great Wall will start producing vehicles in Russia in 2019
- The Great Wall Chinese group will start producing vehicles in Russia as of the first half of 2019, in its future factory located in the Tula Oblast (central Russia).
- The site will first assemble the Haval H7 and H9 SUVs, as SUVs now represent 25% of sales in Russia, and their progression is constant.
- At full capacity, the site will be able to produce up to 150,000 vehicles per year. Initially, the production should have started in 2018, but the manufacturer preferred to postpone the start of this plant for one year. The Great Wall Group plans to expand the distribution network for its Haval brand in Russia, to 65 dealers by 2020 (against twenty currently).
- With the launch of production in Russia and the expansion of its local distribution network, the Chinese manufacturer hopes to bring its sales in Russia to 20,000 units per year by 2020.
- By way of comparison, Great Wall exported only 1,138 vehicles to the Russian market in the first half of 2018, while the overall market totaled 850,000 registrations over this period. Great Wall's market share is therefore less than 0.2% of registrations. However, the builder is still optimistic, even given the painful closure of its Bulgarian factory in Lovech in 2016.
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Inovev forecasts production of 25,000 Seat Tarraco per year
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Inovev forecasts production of 25,000 Seat Tarraco per year
- Seat (subsidiary of the Volkswagen group) has unveiled its D segment SUV, the Tarraco, at the Paris Motorshow, thus crowning the range of SUVs of the Spanish brand.
- This new model, derived from the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace (D segment), is located above the Arona (B segment) and Ateca (C segment) in the Seat range.
- In three years, the Spanish brand has launched three different SUVs each of which perfectly fits to the current demand in its respective segment. One third of the world car market today is made up of SUVs.
- The Seat Tarraco, which competes with the Volkswagen Tiguan, Skoda Kodiaq, Renault Koleos, Peugeot 5008, Citroen C5 Aircross and Hyundai Santa Fe, is built on the MQB platform used by many Volkswagen Group models.
- Its dimensions are 4.74m long (4cm more than the Kodiaq), 1.88m wide and 1.68m high.
- The engines of the Seat Tarraco are a 148 hp 1.5 TSI 4-cylinder petrol engine, a 187 hp 2.0 TSI 4-cylinder petrol engine, a 148 hp or 187 hp 2.0 TDI 4-cylinder diesel engine. A 206hp 2.0 rechargeable hybrid engine will be available as of next year.
- The Seat Tarraco will be manufactured at the Wolfsburg site in Germany, alongside the Volkswagen Tiguan, Touran and Golf. Inovev expects production of around 25,000 units per year.
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