BMW's Debrecen assembly plant will start in 2025
- 詳細
BMW's Debrecen assembly plant will start in 2025
- The assembly plant built by BMW in Debrecen (Hungary), is scheduled to start the production of vehicles in 2025. The first vehicle to be produced at the new plant will be the replacement for the BMW i-X3 electric SUV, which is currently produced in China and launched in 2020. Its ICE version, the BMW X3, whose origins date back to 2017, is produced in the USA, in South Carolina, in the town of Spartanburg (where the X4, X5, X6, X7 and XM are also produced), but also in South Africa, in the town of Rosslyn, and in China, in the town of Shenyang. The Chinese site is the only one to produce the battery electric version of the X3.
- BMW chose to produce the battery electric version of the current i-X3 in China because this country is the leading BEV market, whereas the US market didn’t really starts to adopt them.
- The return of the electric i-X3 to Europe next year may raise questions. However, it can be interpreted as a logical follow-up of the location of the BMW i-X1 and i-X2 in Europe (at the Regensburg site in Germany). Given that BMW's German plants are close to saturation (especially after the end of the Nedcar site in Born), the Debrecen plant was the best opportunity.
- The future i-X3 should mark its era, as it will inaugurate the brand's new design, which returns to less aggressive, softer lines, inspired by the BMWs of the 1960s imagined at the time by Italian designer Michelotti, which remain known under the name “Neue Klasse”, as does the new design recently announced and named in the same way.
- The BMW Vision Neue Klasse X shown below anticipates the design of the future i-X3 launched next year.
Chery and JLR to produce a new Freelander
- 詳細
Chery and JLR to produce a new Freelander
- The two carmakers Chery and JLR (Jaguar Land-Rover) have officialised their cooperation in the battery electric technology by confirming the creation of a joint venture named CJLR, which will initially produce a new model that will take up the name of Freelander, a vehicle discontinued in 2015 (the former Land Rover Freelander was produced between 1997 and 2015) but available only in a battery electric version. This future Freelander EV will be produced in China at Chery's Changshu plant and sold first in China and then outside China.
- Chery has been a partner of Jaguar Land-Rover since 2012, but the production of British cars in China only began in 2016, and the partnership has not achieved the expected results, to say the least. The volume of Jaguar and Land-Rover sold did not exceed 60,000 units per year during their eight years of production at Chery, in a local market of between 20 million and 25 million per year, representing a tiny market share of 0.25%.
- The new partnership between Chery and JLR revives contacts between the two carmakers. In 2016, Chery and JLR each produced 600,000 vehicles but today their hierarchy has reversed. Chery has become one of the three Chinese leaders with sales and production volumes of over 1.7 million vehicles in 2023, while it's JLR, which produced just 400,000 vehicles worldwide in 2023, that needs Chery to provide a battery electric platform for the future Freelander.
France remains the leading European producer of full-hybrids in 2024
- 詳細
France remains the leading European producer of full-hybrids in 2024
- France remains the largest European producer of FHEV (Full hybrid - non-rechargeable hybrid) cars in 2023 and also in the first quarter of 2024.
- This situation is explained by the fact that most of Toyota FHEVs (Yaris and Yaris Cross) are produced in France. Other carmakers like Renault or Stellantis do not produce FHEVs in France. Only Toyota, which was the pioneer of this type of motorisations (since 1997 with the Prius), continues to offer this technology after having expanded it to its entire range. In 2024, for example, all Yaris and Yaris Crosses produced in Onnaing (in the north of France) will be equipped with full hybrid technology.
- The Toyota Yaris and Yaris Cross are the most produced HEVs in Europe in 2023. Two other Toyota models appear in 3rd and 4th place, the Toyota Corolla and Toyota CHR. Renault, which has become the second European producer of FHEVs, places three of its models (Austral, Clio, Captur) in 5th, 6th and 7th places. The position of Renault HEV models is reflected in the good score of the Spanish production (second European HEV producing country) where the Austral and Captur are assembled.
- The United Kingdom is the third largest producer of FHEVs thanks again to Toyota, which produces the different versions of Corolla there, all with full hybrid technology, including its Suzuki Swace variant. Turkey is the fourth producer (Renault Clio, Toyota CHR and Corolla) and Romania started producing FHEVs last year with the hybrid versions of the Jogger and Duster.
The Rivian brand is developing its battery electric range
- 詳細
The Rivian brand is developing its battery electric range
- Rivian is a recent American brand founded in 2009, based in Plymouth (Michigan) and specialized in the production and marketing of battery electric vehicles. Rivian is indeed a competitor of Tesla, but its production volumes are currently much lower as Rivian only produced and sold 50,000 electric vehicles last year. Its BEVs are assembled in the former Mitsubishi factory in Normal (Illinois) bought by Rivian in 2017, two years after the factory ceased operations.
- Between 2019 and 2021, Ford and Amazon acquired a stake in Rivian (for a total amount of $3.7 billion) and production was able to start in 2021 with the R1T pickup and the R1S SUV. The R1T is 5.48m long and the R1S is 5.04m long. These two models recorded 20,000 sales in 2022 and 50,000 in 2023. Of the first five in 2024, they sold 23,000 units.
- The EDV-500 van is another product from the brand specially designed for the company Amazon, which ordered 100,000 units for delivery between 2022 and 2030, representing 12,500 units per year.
- Rivian recently presented its two future models for the mass market: the R2 which is a 4.72 m long SUV aesthetically close to the R1S, and the R3 which is a 4.10 m long SUV with a neo-retro style. These two models to be launched in 2026 will expand the brand's customer base thanks to much lower prices than the R1T/R1S and part of the production which will be exported to Europe.
Rivian could take advantage of the bankruptcy of its competitor Fisker to take a better position in the market of Premium BEVs with a personal style very different from Tesla.
Germany remains the largest European producer of PHEVs in the 1st quarter of 2024
- 詳細
Germany remains the largest European producer of PHEVs in the 1st quarter of 2024
- Germany remains the largest European producer of plug-in hybrid cars (PHEV) in 2023 and the rest in the first quarter of 2024.
- This situation is explained by the fact that Germany produces a wide range of PHEVs, in particular Premium carmakers such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Porsche which are particularly well established in the country. It is indeed necessary to remember that PHEVs are mainly developed by Premium carmakers because the additional costs of this technology is acceptable on an already expensive luxury car but unacceptable on a much cheaper car produced by mainstream carmakers.
- If the production volume of PHEVs is increasing in Germany, it is due to greater demand for this type of vehicle in Europe but also in China where German exports (which represent the majority of European exports to China) are banking on PHEVs (which now represent 1 in 10 exported cars) to offset their difficult position in the BEV market. However, the Volvo XC60 and Ford Kuga are the most produced plug-in hybrid vehicles in the first quarter of 2024 while they are produced in Sweden (for the Volvo) and in Spain (for the Ford).
- Slovakia has become the second European country producing PHEVs thanks to the production of several models of this type, such as the Volkswagen Touareg, Audi Q7, Audi Q8, Kia Ceed, Kia X-Ceed, Kia Sportage and Land Rover Defender. The Netherlands will no longer produce PHEVs in 2024 because the production of the Mini Countryman has been transferred to Germany.