Stellantis temporarily halts production of the Fiat 500 e
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Stellantis temporarily halts production of the Fiat 500 e
- Due to a lack of sufficient orders, the Stellantis group is once again interrupting the production of the Fiat 500 e (battery electric) for a month and a half from September 13 to November 1, 2024. Sales of this model which reached 42,000 units in Europe in 2021 (3,500 per month on average) and 66,000 units in 2022 (5,500 per month), had fallen slightly in 2023, with 63,000 units (5,250 per month), but since January 2024, they have been collapsed to 26,000 units over eight months (3,250 per month), which augurs a volume of less than 40,000 units for the whole year.
- Two factors worked against the model: firstly its high price for an A-segment model (30,000 to 34,000 euros) and secondly the end of subsidies in Germany, although this country was the first customer of the Fiat 500 e ( 13,000 sales in 2021 and 30,000 sales in 2022). In 2023, sales of the model in Germany fell to 23,000 in 2023 and 6,000 in the first eight months of 2024 (or 9,000 sales for the whole year).
- Even Italy, its country of origin, quickly abandoned this model: 11,000 sales in 2021, 6,000 in 2022, 5,000 in 2023 and 2,000 over the first eight months of 2024 (i.e. 3,000 sales over the whole year). France became its first customer in 2024, with 13,000 sales over eight months (or 20,000 over twelve months).
- The Fiat 500 e nevertheless had the advantage of being the only battery electric two-door city car since the withdrawal of the Smart Fortwo, but that has not changed anything. Consequently, the carmaker announced that it would launch in one year a Fiat 500 hybrid derived from the Fiat 500 e which will be produced at the Italian Mirafiori site, like the Fiat 500 e.
Inovev forecasts 75,000 units per year of the new Skoda Elroq SUV
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Inovev forecasts 75,000 units per year of the new Skoda Elroq SUV
The Czech brand Skoda has unveiled its battery electric C-segment SUV, the Elroq, which completes its range of electric-powered SUVs currently made up of the Enyaq and Enyaq coupe D-segment SUVs.
- Skoda is achieving great success with its various combustion engine SUVs Kamiq (B-segment), Karoq (C-segment) and Kodiaq (D-segment) which will each sell at around 85,000 units worldwide in 2023. The battery electric SUV Enyaq achieved a comparable success, with just over 80,000 units sold last year, which represents a significant volume for a battery electric model. The Czech carmaker therefore does not have too much to fear by declining its range of electric SUVs downwards, with the new Elroq. Inovev forecasts 75,000 annual sales which should not cannibalize sales of the Karoq too much, like the Enyaq did not cannibalize Kodiaq sales too much. The Skoda Elroq will be assembled at the Czech site in MladaBoleslav, like the Skoda Fabia, Kamiq, Scala, Octavia, Enyaq.
- The Skoda Elroq is 16 cm shorter than the Enyaq (4.49 m versus 4.65 m) but 4 cm taller (1.66 m versus 1.62 m). It will compete the Peugeot e-3008 (4.54 m) and Renault Scenic E-Tech (4.47 m).
- Its electric motor delivers 170 hp (125 kW), 204 hp (150 kW) or 285 hp (210 kW) with three different batteries capacities: 55 kWh, 63 kWh or 82 kWh, which allows a range of more than 560 km according to the WLTP standard with the 82 kWh battery. The first two versions are rear-wheel drive while the third is all-wheel drive.
Chinese brands now represent 2/3 of the Chinese market
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Chinese brands now represent 2/3 of the Chinese market
- The market share of Chinese automobile brands reached 67% for the first time in August 2024, after reaching 65% in June and then 66% in July this year. The progression of Chinese brands seems unstoppable since 2023 and it is to the detriment of foreign brands which have not been able to take the turn towards electric, a specialty of Chinese carmakers, with the BYD brand as the leading figure which has overtaken the group Volkswagen on the Chinese market in 2024. BYD currently occupies 14.5% of the market compared to 10.3% for the German carmaker.
- The former Chinese market leader Volkswagen has lost almost half of its market share in five years in China. The former number two, the GM group, lost nearly two thirds of its market share during the same period, and now these two groups together represent a market share comparable to BYD one on the Chinese market.
- If we only count the American brands of the GM group (Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac), the market share of this group went from 7% in 2019 to 2% in 2024, and it is likely that these brands will disappear from this market in the short term.
- The performance is quite different when we observe the evolution of Chinese brands: BYD increased its sales by 30% over the first eight months of 2024 compared to the first eight months of 2023, Geely by 31%, Chery by 42%. These three carmakers now represent a third of the sales on the Chinese market. Some small carmakers are seeing their sales increase significantly: Leapmotor (136,794 units, +87%), NIO (128,100 units, +41%) or Li Auto (288,105 units, +38%). And Aito (301,380 units) and Xiaomi (57,098 units) have successfully started their first commercial year.
Inovev forecasts 50,000 units of the new Dacia Bigster SUV
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Inovev forecasts 50,000 units of the new Dacia Bigster SUV
- The Dacia brand (a subsidiary of the Renault group) presented its new “top-of-the-range” model, the Bigster SUV, at the 2024 Paris Motor Show. Derived from the Duster, the Bigster is 23 cm longer (4.57 m) and 5 cm higher (1.71 m). Despite its more imposing dimensions than the Duster, the Bigster only allows five passengers so as not to compete the Dacia Jogger, which is a seven seats station wagon version of the Sandero. However, a seven-seater version of the Bigster was initially considered. It is not impossible that the carmaker would change its mind if the market demand for this type of version is high. Indeed, the Jogger is not strictly speaking an SUV, but rather a station wagon, the two models evolving in different worlds.
- Due to its dimensions, the Bigster is located between the C and D segments, while the Duster is located in the C-segment on the edge of the B-segment. The Bigster thus illustrates a real move upmarket of the Dacia brand, which confirms its technical specifications: a 1.2 48V petrol with 140 hp (103 kW) and a new 1.8 hybrid with 155 hp (114 kW).
- Prices for the Bigster range from 25,000 euros for the 1.2 gasoline version to 30,000 euros for the 1.8 hybrid version. Inovev is counting on 50,000 sales per year of the new Dacia Bigster, four times less than the Duster (200,000 units per year). Both models are produced at the Romanian Pitesti factory, alongside the Dacia Jogger station wagon.
Ford abandons its plans for a battery electric large SUV
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Ford abandons its plans for a battery electric large SUV
- In the current context which seems to shifted out from the acquisition of heavy and expensive battery electric vehicles, the second American carmaker, Ford, has decided to abandon its already well-advanced projects for large electric SUVs which had been planned to be marketed in the short term in North America.
- Today, Ford markets in North America a mid-size SUV (Mustang Mach E) and a large pickup (F-Series Lightning) and the investment that would have been required to electrify all of its large SUVs would have been too massive regarding their sales potential. Ford has in fact sold nearly 800,000 SUVs in the United States in 2023 (including 40,000 Mustang Mach E), as in 2021 and 2022, to which must be added nearly 100,000 SUVs sold annually in Canada.
- However, Ford sold only 107,000 battery electric vehicles worldwide in 2023 (including 69,000 Mustang Mach E and 24,000 F Series Lightning pick-ups) out of 4.4 million vehicles sold, or 2.5% of its global sales. The carmaker does not want to completely abandon the electric market but is repositioning itself in a category of cheaper vehicles with a long range, which could pose some problems because Ford has removed all of its sedans from the American market.
- One idea (from Inovev) to boost again the sales would be the sale battery electric vehicles made in Europe, such as the Explorer and the Capri, which could be exported to the United States. Ford indicates that the large SUVs which were programmed in a battery electric version will finally be available in a hybrid version, an engine in which Ford believes more.