Renault has stopped the production of the Mégane (thermal) in July 2024
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Renault has stopped the production of the Mégane (thermal) in July 2024
- As we get closer in Europe to the 2035 deadline for the end of thermal vehicles, masse volume combustion engine models are disappearing one after the other.
- After the announcement of the end of the Ford Fiesta and the Volkswagen Up in 2023, and more recently of the Volkswagen Polo in July 2024, Renault has announced the termination of the Mégane assembled in Spain. This leaves only the battery electric Mégane (launched in 2022) to represent the carmaker's C-segment sedan in Europe.
- The sales drop of the Renault Mégane since 2005 has been impressive and inexorable. From over 350,000 units sold in 2005 (excluding Renault Scénic), the sales volume gradually fell to 150,000 units in 2014, then 35,000 in 2023 and only 10,000 in the first half of 2024.
- The Renault Mégane was an important model for the carmaker, launched in 1995 to succeed the Renault 19 (1988-1995). It was the mid-size C-segment sedan that competed with the VW Golf, Peugeot 306/307/308, Opel Astra and Ford Focus. Today, the VW Golf, Peugeot 308 and Opel Astra still exist, but the Ford Focus will be phased out without descendants in 2025.
- Luckily for Renault, its C-segment SUVs are numerous (Symbioz, Arkana, Austral) and the Sedan version with a trunk still exists in Turkey (nearly 50,000 sales per year). As for the Megane BEV, it will probably not be able to reach the sales volume at medium term of the thermal Megane recorded between 2005 and 2019.
Inovev forecasts 20,000 units per year of the new Audi A6 E-Tron
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Inovev forecasts 20,000 units per year of the new Audi A6 E-Tron
- Audi has decided to rename all its sedans according to their engine type: sedans with combustion engines (or MHEV, or PHEV) will be designated by odd numbers and battery electric sedans will be designated by even numbers. A model cannot be both combustion and battery electric. It is in this context that the new Audi A6 was presented, which is therefore a battery electric sedan. The future combustion version of this model should be named A7 and should be launched next year.
- The new Audi A6 E-Tron is based on the PPE platform already used by the Audi Q6 E-Tron and Porsche Macan E. As with the recently presented Audi A5, the Audi A6 E-Tron abandons the three-box style (three volumes) and now has a tailgate. It has a drag coefficient (Cx) of 0.21, making it the most aerodynamic car in the entire Volkswagen group, as was the case with the famous Audi 100 from 1982 that marked its era.
- Like its predecessors, the new A6 is available in a sedan (Sportback) and estate (Avant) version. It is 4 cm wider (1.92 m) and 4 cm taller (1.49 m) than the previous generation. However, it is one centimetre shorter in length (4.93 m) while the wheelbase is 2 cm longer (2.95 m).
- The new A6 E-Tron, which competes with the BMW i5, is equipped with a 367 hp (270 kW) electric motor or 503 hp (370 kW) for the S6, coupled with a 94.9 kWh battery that gives it a range of 757 km (676 km for the S6) according to the WLTP cycle. It will be assembled in Ingolstadt(Germany) alongside the Q6 E-Tron at a rate of 20,000 units per year according to Inovev's forecasts.
HEV sales exceed BEV sales in Europe in the first half of 2024
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HEV sales exceed BEV sales in Europe in the first half of 2024
- In a European market (30 countries = EU + United Kingdom + Switzerland + Norway) that reached 6,873,082 passenger cars in the first half of 2024, compared to 6,578,944 units in the first half of 2023 (representing an increase of 4.5%), the share of BEVs (battery electric vehicles) which did not exceed 14% has fallen behind the HEVs (full-hybrid cars) which reached 15%. The market share of BEVs in 2024 returns to the level of 2022, while that of HEVs jumps by 3% compared to 2023, and by 6% compared to 2022.
- This is the first time since 2012 that the market share of BEVs has decreased in Europe. This could be explained by the end of the first wave of purchases initiated by "early adopters", by the excessively high prices of battery electric vehicles for other buyers, in a context of the end of subsidies for BEVs in some countries, by the end in certain countries of ecological bonuses for the purchase of imported BEVs and undoubtedly by the lack of dedicated infrastructures (charging stations).
- At the same time, the market share of PHEVs (plug-in hybrid vehicles) as well as that of pure gasoline and diesel cars continues to decline. PHEVs see their market share drop from 9% in 2022 to 8% in 2023 and 7% in 2024. Purely petrol cars see their market share drop from 40% in 2022 to 38% in 2023 and 36% in 2024. As for pure diesel cars, they see their market share drop from 15% in 2022 to 13% in 2023 and 12% in 2024. A progress is also on MHEVs (mild-hybrids electric vehicles), a technology that is developing on thermal vehicles.
The future electric Renault Twingo will be assembled in Slovenia
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The future electric Renault Twingo will be assembled in Slovenia
- Renault has announced that the future battery electric Twingo scheduled for 2026 will be assembled at the Slovenian site in Novo Mesto, which produced the previous generation of the model (thermal).
- Renault objective is to sell 150,000 units per year. This objective seems very ambitious. For Inovev, this model would reach 50,000 sales in 2026, 100,000 sales in 2030 and it would be necessary to wait until 2035 for the 150,000 sales to be effective, but this would done by the next generation, because the Twingo launched in 2026 could be marketed until 2033 in the best case scenario but hardly beyond.
- The decision to produce the future battery electric Twingo at the Novo Mesto site will save this factory because this site only produced 60,000 vehicles in 2023 (including 36,000 Twingos and 24,000 Clios), compared to 210,000 in 2018 and 220,000 in 2010. The years 2024 and 2025 are likely to be even worst, especially since Renault seems to have decided to stop the current Twingo before the launch of the new one. The Novo Mesto site, which has been producing Renault-branded vehicles since the 1970s, now employs more than 1,400 people.
- For the current Twingo, Renault had collaborated with Mercedes (Smart), but the German carmaker is now in partnership with Geely to design its new Smarts. For the future Twingo, Renault had considered collaborating with Volkswagen to share costs, but this association could not take place, Volkswagen having decided to design its own A-segment electric car internally. It is said that Renault would have turned to a Chinese carmaker to design its future Twingo. This could be Geely, which already collaborates with Renault for the Horse company.
Nedcar has not produced BMWs or Minis since January 2024
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Nedcar has not produced BMWs or Minis since January 2024
- The BMW group (BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce) ended in January 2024 the contract with the Dutch company Nedcar for the production on its Born plant of various BMW and Mini models.
- This plant is formerly the factory that produced DAFs between 1967 and 1976, then Volvos between 1976 and 2001. In 2001, the factory was completely bought by Mitsubishi, which had already owned 33% of this factory since 1991. This factory assembled in particular the Mitsubishi Carisma and its Volvo S40/V40 derivatives, the Mitsubishi Colt and its Smart Forfour derivatives as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander and its Peugeot 4007/Citroën C-Crosser derivatives. In 2012, Mitsubishi sold the Nedcar factory for a symbolic euro to the VDL group. All production then ceased on the site.
- From 2014, the BMW Group entered into an agreement with Nedcar, which will produce Minis until 2023, as well as Countrymans and BMW X1s from 2017. In January 2024, production of these models will cease definitively. The Nedcar factory is in the same situation as in 2013. No more models are assembled on this plant and no contracts have been signed with a major carmaker.
- The termination of the contract with BMW, which ran until 2030, was motivated by the difficult conditions of the automobile market and the overcapacity of the European automobile industry. The factory, which has assembled a total of more than 5.5 million cars since its debut, is now working on the transition that will allow it to move from being a car producer to a global partner for sustainable mobility. This transition involves the loss of 2,000 jobs out of 2,500.