BMW plant in Debrecen (Hungary) to start production at the end of 2025
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BMW plant in Debrecen (Hungary) to start production at the end of 2025
- The BMW assembly plant in Debrecen (Hungary) will finally start up at the end of 2025, producing a new generation of the BMW iX3, a battery electric D-segment SUV.
- It should be remembered that the current electric iX3 has been assembled in China since 2020 in a factory owned by its historic partner Brilliance, recently renamed Shineray. It is sold worldwide and could continue to be produced and sold in China after the launch of the new generation of the iX3 produced in Europe at the end of 2025 (It should be noted that the current battery electric iX3 is derived from the X3 model produced in the USA since 2010 and still currently).
- The new version of the iX3 will differ from the fourth generation of the BMW X3 (G45) assembled in the USA and launched in Europe in June 2024 because it will adopt a new platform dedicated to the carmaker's battery electric vehicles and a new style inspired by the "NeueKlasse" unveiled last year and seen again at the 2024 Paris Motor Show last October.
- The name "NeueKlasse" refers to the first BMW 1500 designed by designer Michelotti and presented in 1961 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which marked a new beginning for the Munich brand after difficult years.
- The success of the future iX3 will depend mainly on the success of electric SUVs in Europe from now to 2030. The current generation produced in China at 45,000 units in 2021, 64,000 in 2022, 71,000 in 2023 and 50,000 in 2024 was mainly sold in China. The future iX3 will therefore have to expand its scope to Europe.
Inovev forecasts 15,000 units per year of the new DS No. 8
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Inovev forecasts 15,000 units per year of the new DS No. 8
- The Premium DS brand belonging to the Stellantis group has just presented its new high-end model named "No 8" which replaces the DS9 sedan whose production is carried out in China. N° 8 inaugurates a new nomenclature directly inspired by Chanel perfumes (N° 5) allowing the car, and in the future the other models of the DS brand to try to get closer to the luxury domain. Indeed, DS has registered the names "N° 1" to "N° 9" for its future models.
- N° 8 is more a coupe SUV than a sedan, the relatively slender line being derived from the Peugeot 3008 SUV but stretched to 4.82 m (compared to 4.54 m for the 3008) and lowered to 1.58 m (compared to 1.64 m) which brings it closer to the dimensions of an Audi Q6 E-Tron or a BMW i4. This Premium model uses the STLA Medium platform of the recent Peugeot 3008 and 5008. It is available in 2 different versions: a 2-wheel drive version (169 kW and 180 kW) and a 4-wheel drive version (257 kW).
- The engines are produced at the Trémery site (France) by Emotors. The NMC batteries are also assembled in France, at the Douvrin site (ACC). They have a capacity of 74 kWh (for the 169 kW version) or 97.2 kWh (for the 180 kW and 257 kW versions) allowing a range of 572 km or 750 km respectively, according to the WLTP cycle. The weight of N° 8 is between 2,130 kg and 2,290 kg depending on the version. N° 8 will be offered in 2026 in version 1.2 MHEV 136 hp or 100 kW and in version 1.6 PHEV 195 hp or 143 kW which reflects the de facto abandonment of all-electric at DS.
- N° 8 will be assembled on the Italian site of Melfi alongside the future Lancia Gamma and Jeep Compass based on the same platform. Inovev is forecasting 10,000 sales of N° 8 in 2025, 15,000 in 2027 and 19,000 in 2030.
Global light vehicles production fell by 2% over 10 months to 2024
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Global light vehicles production fell by 2% over 10 months to 2024
- Global light vehicles production (passenger cars + light utility vehicles) fell by 2% over the first 10 months of 2024 (74.2 million units) compared to the first 10 months of 2023 (75.7 million units). China, the world's leading automobile producer with 24.4million units produced over the period, lead automobile production with an increase of 1.7%, but it was the United States, which continued its policy of relocating part of the production started under Donald Trump's first term (2016-2020) but continued under Joe Biden's term (2020-2024), which made the most progress among the major producing countries (+5.3% to 9.5 million units). Europe (30 countries) lagged behind with a 3% drop in its production over the period (12.2 million units). The other countries are generally down (28 million units produced compared to 30 million).
- By carmaker, the ranking of the top five groups worldwide does not change compared to 2023. Toyota remains largely the leader ahead of Volkswagen, Hyundai-Kia, Stellantis and GM, although all five have fallen, but by different amounts. Toyota and Stellantis are the two carmakers that have fallen the most (-8.7% and -8.1% respectively).
- Nissan and Ford are sixth and seventh, but the big change in this ranking is the arrival of BYD in eighth position, while the Chinese carmaker was ninth in the first half of 2024 and tenth in 2023. BYD sees its production volume increase by 36.5% compared to last year. Among the top 20 global carmakers, only Chery is doing better with a 43.1% increase in its production, going from 17th place in 2023 to 15th in the first half of 2024 and to 14th over 10 months of 2024. Behind BYD, we note the presence of Honda, Suzuki, Geely, BMW and Mercedes, which are ahead of Chery.
Stellantis may close its Luton plant in 2025
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Stellantis may close its Luton plant in 2025
- In the first 10 months of 2024, Great Britain produced 105,834 light utility vehicles, including 72,547 in Luton (59,951 thermal and 12,596 battery electric in the first 10 months of 2024), and 15,685 in Ellesmere Port (over the same period, all battery electric).
- While the Stellantis group announced last summer that it could close one of the two assembly plants in Great Britain that it currently owns, and we could think that it would be the Ellesmere Port plant, which production volume has become very low since the end of assembly of the Astra sedan in 2022 (transferred to the Rüsselsheim site in Germany), the carmaker announces that it may close the Luton plant as early as next year. The Luton plant assembles some of the group's N1-2 segment vans, namely the Opel Vivaro, Peugeot Expert, Citroën Jumpy and Fiat Scudo, in both thermal and electric versions.
- The carmaker's management wishes to concentrate the production of electric vans of all segments on the Ellesmere Port site, which already assembles the electric versions of the N1-1 segment vans, namely the Opel Combo, Peugeot Partner, Citroën Berlingo, Fiat Doblo and Toyota ProAce City. The electric vans currently produced in Luton (12,596 over the last 10 months) will therefore be transferred to the Ellesmere Port plant. The Ellesmere Port site would therefore offer a potential of at least 30,000 vehicles produced in 2025, a figure that should tend to increase until 2035, due to the European electrification policy.
- The thermal versions of the N1-2 segment vans (59,951 units in the first 10 months of 2024), currently produced in Luton, will be concentrated on the French site of Hordainwhere most of the Opel Vivaro, Peugeot Expert, Citroën Jumpy, Fiat Scudo and Toyota ProAce are already produced.
The most produced xEVs in Europe over 9 months 2024
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The most produced xEVs in Europe over 9 months 2024
- Out of a total of 2,212,902 xEVs produced in Europe (30 countries = EU + UK + Switzerland + Norway) in the first 9 months of 2024, there are 1,146,528 fully electric vehicles (BEVs), 531,444 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and 534,930 full-hybrids (HEVs).
- Among the 1,146,528 BEVs produced in Europe in the first 9 months of 2024, the Tesla Model Y remains the most produced, with 157,983 units manufactured over the period, compared to 149,411 over the corresponding 2023 period. This 6% increase does not reflect the 21.5% drop of Model Y sales in Europe over the first 9 months of 2024 compared to the first 9 months of 2023 (150,905 units compared to 192,392), due to the simple fact that all Model Ys sold in Europe today come mostly from the Grünheide plant in Germany and no longer partially from Germany and China. The Audi Q4, Skoda Enyaq and BMW i4 are ahead of the Volkswagen ID3 and ID4. The Fiat 500 e loses half of its production volume.
- Among the 531,444 PHEVs produced in Europe over the first 9 months of 2024, the Volvo XC60 takes first place with a 52% increase in its production. It should also be noted that around ten PHEV models in the Top 15 are seeing their production increase significantly (including the Mercedes GLC, CupraFormentor, BMW X1, Audi A3, Porsche Cayenne, Volvo XC90, Mercedes E-Class and Range Rover Sport).
- Among the 534,930 HEVs produced in Europe in the first 9 months of 2024, the Toyota Yaris Cross, Yaris and Corolla are in the top spots, but Renault and now Nissan are becoming Toyota's main competitors in this area.