The new Renault Boréal will be reserved for emerging countries
- 说明
The new Renault Boréal will be reserved for emerging countries
- Renault is launching a new SUV that will be reserved (presumably) for emerging markets. It's the Boréal, a C-segment SUV that is aesthetically and mechanically very similar to the recent Dacia Bigster, which has been on sale in Europe for a few months. Presented in Brazil, the Renault Boréal will be sold in five markets: Latin America, Morocco, Turkey, India, and South Korea, where the Dacia brand has little presence or is even unknown, while the Renault brand is well-established and well-known.
- Let us recall that Renault's non-European markets represented 35% of the brand's overall sales in 2024, or 560,000 units out of a total of 1,577,000 vehicles (including 167,000 in Turkey, 139,000 in Brazil, 67,500 in Morocco, 42,000 in India, 40,000 in Korea, 35,500 in Argentina, 30,000 in Mexico and 25,000 in Colombia).
- Following the launch of the Kardian and Duster in 2023, then the Grand Koléos in 2024, the Boréal is the fourth SUV launched by Renault for emerging countries. Based on the RGMP platform derived from the CMF-B platform of the Dacia Duster and Dacia Bigster, the Renault Boréal has a length of 4.56 m and a width of 1.84 m, dimensions close to those of the Dacia Bigster.
- Production of the model will initially be concentrated at the Curitiba site (Brazil) for all of Latin America and at the Bursa site (Turkey) for all of the Middle East and Morocco. It is true that the Tangier site in Morocco (which produces the Dacia Sandero for all of Europe) is now practically saturated. For India and South Korea, no details have yet been given, but it is likely that the Boréal will be produced in the short term in these two countries for their domestic markets.
Tesla to enter Indian market in second half of 2025
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Tesla to enter Indian market in second half of 2025
- The United States, China and Europe (30 countries = EU + United Kingdom + Switzerland + Norway) are the three main markets for the American brand of battery electric cars Tesla, joined in 2025 by Turkey which bought 12,320 units during the first six months of the year, which suggests a sales volume of 25,000 units over the whole year. But Inovev is rather counting on 50,000 sales due to a slow but gradual ramp-up of the Tesla brand in Turkey (sales in June 2025 thus reached 7,235 units). This figure, if reached, would represent a volume of a European country like France or England, which was unhoped for a year ago.
- In the second half of 2025, Tesla has decided to invest in a new market, the Indian market, the fourth largest market in the world, behind China, the United States and Europe (30 countries). But a market that is still not very keen on battery electric cars.
- In fact, India will only have purchased 2.7% of battery electric vehicles in 2024, or around 110,000 units. But according to all experts, this market seems to offer growth opportunities in the BEV category.
- In the Indian market, Tesla will be positioned in the Premium segment given its relatively high prices ($70,000 to $80,000 per unit) and its positioning in the D segment with its Model 3 and Model Y, in a country that mainly buys cars from the A and B segments. In this context, the American carmaker is counting on 2,000 annual sales between 2026 and 2030. In 2030, experts expect the Indian market to represent 1.1 million battery electric vehicles in 2030, all brands combined.
Volvo to build assembly plant in Slovakia
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Volvo to build assembly plant in Slovakia
- Slovakia is probably the European country that currently has the most assembly plants (Bratislava, Nitra, Trnava, Zilina) in relation to its population (5.5 million inhabitants). A fifth plant is currently being built, with a production capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year. This is the Volvo plant in Košice, which will produce the future battery electric Volvo EX60 and Polestar 7 models from 2028 (Polestar being a subsidiary of Volvo that produces its own vehicles in China and the United States).
- The Volvo EX60 will be the all-electric version of the future XC60 SUV (D-segment) expected in 2026. It will complete Volvo's EX range, currently composed of the EX30, EX40 and EX90. It will be based on the new SPA3 platform which will integrate advanced technologies such as the assisted driving system.
- The Polestar 7, the first electric vehicle produced by Polestar in Europe, will be an SUV derived from the Volvo EX60 and will therefore share the SPA3 platform, its batteries and its motors with the EX60 SUV. There is no doubt that producing this model in Europe will strengthen the presence and exposure of the Polestar brand.
- Currently, the Polestar lineup consists of the Polestar 2 (D-segment sedan), Polestar 3 (E-segment SUV), and Polestar 4 (E-segment SUV), all with all-electric powertrains. A Polestar 5 sedan (E-segment sedan) is planned for fall 2025. The Polestar 7 SUV (D-segment SUV) is expected to launch in 2026, with some production moving from China to Slovakia in 2028.
Despite Renault's help, Mitsubishi fails to relaunch in Europe
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Despite Renault's help, Mitsubishi fails to relaunch in Europe
- The Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi, which is gradually moving away from its main shareholder Nissan (which is struggling with inextricable financial difficulties), decided three years ago to relaunch its sales in the European market (30 countries = EU + United Kingdom + Switzerland + Norway), after having lost a lot of influence there between 2000 and 2022, going from 200,000 to 50,000 sales in this market, thus losing 75% of its sales in 22 years. At the time, Mitsubishi even questioned its withdrawal from Europe.
(See Auto Analyse 2021-09-7 of 04/19/2021).
(See Auto Analyse 2021-09-7 of 04/19/2021).
- Rebranded Renault models was a quick and inexpensive solution. The models chosen were initially the Renault Clio (B-segment sedan) and Captur (B-segment SUV) sold under the Mitsubishi Colt and Mitsubishi ASX names, two traditional names for the Japanese carmaker. These two models began their careers from the second half of 2023.
- These two models have contributed to Mitsubishi's sales in Europe increasing from 40,000 units in 2023 to 60,000 in 2024, but according to Inovev and based on sales figures recorded during the first half of 2025, these sales will not reach the volume observed in 2024 over the whole of 2025.
- Mitsubishi will launch a third model at the end of this year, the Grandis (another traditional Mitsubishi name) which is nothing other than a rebadged Renault Symbioz, but this model will not achieve either the sales volume hoped for by the carmaker or the sales volume of Mitsubishi from the years 2000-2020.
Iveco is now a company of the Indian Tata Motors group
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Iveco is now a company of the Indian Tata Motors group
- The Iveco brand was part of the Fiat Group until 2011 as a subsidiary of Fiat Industrial. In 2013, Fiat Industrial merged with CNH Global to form the CNH Industrial Group . In 2022, Iveco became a standalone group under the name Iveco Group. In 2025, Iveco Group, which still produces heavy utility vehicles, buses and Daily vans over 2 tonnes, has been sharing some light utility vehicles in the N1-2 and N1-3 segments with Stellantis since this year.
- Last month it was annouced that Iveco brand (excluding Defense activity) will come under the control of the Indian Tata Motors (owner of the Jaguar and Land Rover brands) which is already a major producer of heavy utility vehicles in India (under the Tata brand) more than 300,000 units per year. For its part, Iveco produced 120,000 vehicles last year, including around 60,000 Daily and 60,000 heavy utility vehicles and buses.
- The truck sector is in full consolidation following the separation of Daimler 's truck division from Mercedes, the merger of Scania and MAN into the Traton entity (under Volkswagen control) as well as the recent merger of Fuso and Hino.
- Tata Motors' goal is to create – after this acquisition – a global leader in utility vehicles of the same size as the Daimler Trucks, Volvo Trucks or Traton groups.
- The group created by Tata Motors could indeed sell more than 450,000 vehicles per year worldwide, with a strong base in India thanks to the Tata brand and a European base thanks to the Iveco brand. The Agnelli family, owner of part of Stellantis and all of Ferrari, sold the Iveco brand for €3.8 billion (+€1.7 billion for the Defense part sold to the Italian company Leonardo).