Inovev forecasts 450,000 new Mazda 3s per year
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Inovev forecasts 450,000 new Mazda 3s per year
- Mazda (one of the last mid-sized independent automakers) unveiled the new generation of its Mazda 3 sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
- This sharp style C segment model replaces the sedan whose origins date back to 2013. Like the old model, the new Mazda 3 is available in two different body types, hatchback (5-door sedan) and notchback (4-door sedan), principally intended for the American and Chinese markets. There is no station wagon in this range.
- At 4.46m long, the new Mazda 3 is 1cm shorter than the previous one, but longer than most sedans in its segment. Thus, it exceeds the VW Golf by 20cm, the Opel Astra by 9cm and the Ford Focus by 8cm.
- The Mazda 3, which remains one of the best-selling models of the brand (442,000 units in 2017), will be built in two petrol versions (1.5 l, 105hp and 2.0 l, 120hp or 165hp) and a diesel version (1.8 l, 150hp). There will be no hybrid in this range. Sales of the new Mazda 3 are expected to begin in the spring of 2019.
- The model will be manufactured as today, in Japan (Hofu) for the Japanese and European markets, in China (Changchun) for the Chinese market, and in Mexico (Salamanca) for the North American market. Inovev expects an overall production volume of 450,000 per year.
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GM to close five plants in North America
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GM to close five plants in North America
- General Motors has announced that it will cut 15% of its workforce and close five plants in North America, and therefore discontinue several models in its range.
- The factories closing in 2020 are Oshawa (Ontario Canada), Moraine (Ohio USA), Lordstown ( Ohio USA), Hamtrack (Michigan USA ) and Baltimore (Maryland USA).
- The models impacted are: Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XTS, Chevy Sonic, Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Bolt, Chevrolet Volt, and Chevrolet Impala. The total production volume for these models was 378,000 units in 2017 and 315,000 units in 2018, or 39,375 units per model on average.
- These cars are therefore among GM group’s least sold in North America, but a significant aspect of this new rationalization is the halt of hybrid and electric vehicle production in the US (Baltimore manufactured the electric motors of the Bolt and Volt), which is probably a consequence of US government policy that encourages fossil fuel production, through less strict regulation of polluting emissions, and shale gas production, rather than encouraging the design and production of electric vehicles, as do China or Europe. On the other hand, GM still intends to market electric cars on the Chinese market, through its subsidiary Wuling.
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Volkswagen may not renew Arteon
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Volkswagen may not renew Arteon
- Like Renault with its Talisman sedan, Volkswagen may not renew the Arteon sedan, whose sales do not meet the manufacturer's goals.
- The successor to the Passat CC (2008-2012) then CC (2012-2016) has achieved only 16,000 sales in Europe in the first 10 months of 2018, and will probably not exceed 25,000 units worldwide on the year, compared with 18,000 in 2017, when it was launched.
- Like the late Phaeton (2002-2016), Arteon is probably a victim of its logo, as customers usually prefer upper segment sedans under Premium brands, such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volvo or Jaguar.
- Arteon, which is built on the Passat platform (D segment sedan), targeted the E-segment sedan market, but with relatively modest success. It is barely better than the Renault Talisman (21,000 sales over the whole year 2018 vs. 29,000 in 2017), which is very comparable and will have an equivalent fate.
- Arteon will continue its career until the end of its life cycle, that is to say until 2022. It will thus pay for the new organization of the Emden plant which will produce exclusively electric vehicles from 2022. The VW Passat will then become the only luxury sedan of the Volkswagen brand.
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Lincoln will produce vehicles in China
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Lincoln will produce vehicles in China
- The Lincoln brand, the luxury subsidiary of the Ford Group, will produce vehicles in China. Until then, all Lincoln sold in China (37,000 units in 2018 versus 32,000 in 2017) were/are imported from North America. Starting in 2019, the Lincoln sold in China will be more and more produced locally.
- These models will be manufactured in the Chinese factory of Huangzhou which belongs to the manufacturer Changan (2nd Chinese manufacturer behind Geely), because Ford has been working with Changan since the 2000s.
- Ford's goal is to quickly develop Lincoln's sales in the Chinese market, while avoiding new taxes on US vehicles imported from the United States.
- Lincoln's Chinese lineup will be based around the MKC (now Aviator), MKX (now Nautilus) and Navigator SUVs, as well as the MKZ and Continental sedans. Recall that the MKC is derived from the Ford Kuga, that the MKX is derived from the Ford Edge, that the Navigator is derived from the Ford Expedition and that the MKZ is derived from the Ford Fusion.
- Lincoln's main competitor in China, Cadillac (GM's luxury subsidiary), sold 125,000 vehicles in the first 10 months of 2018 (compared to 128,000 units in the first 10 months of 2017). As a first step, Ford plans to sell 50,000 Lincoln a year in China through their 120 locally-established dealers.
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Volkswagen adapts its European plants for the electric vehicle
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Volkswagen adapts its European plants for the electric vehicle
- Several European manufacturers have announced the launch of many electric vehicles in the 2020s, but most of them have not yet specified on which production sites these vehicles would be manufactured.
- Today, the Volkswagen Group says that three of its existing European plants will be transformed to produce electric vehicles. These are the factories of Emden, Hanover and Zwickau, all three located in Germany.
- The Zwickau plant will abandon production of the VW Golf in 2019 to dedicate itself from January 2020 to the production of six electric models of different brands of the group (Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda). Its production capacity after conversion of the assembly lines will increase from 180,000 to 330,000 units per year. The production of the VW Golf will be transferred to Wolfsburg where most of the Golfs are already produced.
- The Emden plant, where the VW Passat is currently produced, will manufacture electric vehicles from 2022. This new organization of the site will cause the transfer of the future Passat to the Skoda site of Kvasiny, alongside the Skoda Superb and Kodiaq. Seat Ateca and Skoda Karoq will be transferred to another factory of the Volkswagen Group.
- The Hanover factory, where the Transporter and Kombi are currently produced, will manufacture electric vehicles as of 2022. This plant will also continue to manufacture models with thermal engines for about ten years.
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