VW Taos to replace Golf in North American market
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VW Taos to replace Golf in North American market
- Volkswagen has implemented a third SUV in its manufacturing program in North America. This is a 4.47 m long C-segment SUV, very close to the Volkswagen Tharu marketed in China since 2018 and whose dimensions are between those of a Skoda Karoq (4.38 m) and Volkswagen Tiguan (4.70 m). Note that the Tiguan made in Mexico is the long version, called Allspace in Europe. The German automaker has said that like the Passat, which is gradually being replaced by the Tiguan in customer demand, the new Taos will replace the Golf in the North American market.
- The Taos has a 1.5-liter petrol engine developing 158 hp already fitted to the Golf.
- The Golf and the Taos are manufactured in the same factory in Puebla, Mexico. The plant's activity is expected to increase again from 2021 as the Taos is at the core of the North American market, namely the compact SUV market. Next to the Taos and the Tiguan, there is a third SUV in the Volkswagen manufacturing program in North America, this is the Atlas which is manufactured at the Chattanooga (Tennessee) site and which has supplanted the VW Touareg in the North American market. It is therefore a 5.04 m long upper segment model that continues to grow in this market despite the Covid crisis. In 2020, Volkswagen will have manufactured 235,000 SUVs in North America compared to 155,000 sedans, or 60% of SUVs and 40% of sedans, knowing that the proportion of sedans will fall further in 2021, with the discontinuation of the Passat and of the Golf, and the rise in tempo of the Taos. Volkswagen’s future in North America will depend on SUVs and electric cars.
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The production of the Mercedes C-Class has been stopped in the USA
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The production of the Mercedes C-Class has been stopped in the USA
- The Daimler group decided in 2013 to transfer part of the production of the Mercedes C-Class (those destined for North America) from the Bremen plant in Germany to the Tuscaloosa plant in the United States. This transfer was made necessary by the arrival in 2015 of the Mercedes GLC SUV at the Bremen site, which succeeded the GLK. The success of the Mercedes GLC was such (170,000 sales in 2016, 200,000 sales in 2018) that part of its production was carried out in Finland, at the subcontractor Valmet.
- The success of the GLC encroached on sales of the C-Class whose sales eroded, like all sedans faced with the growth in SUV sales, both in Europe and the United States, so that the volume of Production of the C-Class was reduced significantly in Bremen and Tuscaloosa between 2015 and 2020. The production of the C-Class in Bremen thus fell from 215,000 units in 2016 to 180,000 in 2018 and 120,000 in 2020, its sales in Europe following the same trajectory.
- In the United States, sales of the C-Class increased from 86,000 units in 2015 to 60,000 in 2018, 50,000 in 2019 and 25,000 in 2020. As a result, production of the C-Class in Tuscaloosa decreased from 98 000 units in 2015 to 70,000 in 2018, 47,000 in 2019 and 15,000 in 2020. Daimler therefore decided to stop production of the C-Class in the United States last fall. The Bremen plant will take over deliveries of the C-Class to North America.
- This Daimler announcement coincides with the one confirming the cessation of production of Mercedes sedans in Brazil (including the C-Class). The manufacturer will now only manufacture Sprinter trucks and vans there.
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阅读全文... The production of the Mercedes C-Class has been stopped in the USA
Ssangyong declares bankruptcy
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Ssangyong declares bankruptcy
- Korean SUV manufacturer Ssangyong has failed to grow under Indian Mahindra rule despite skyrocketing sales of SUVs around the world.
- Ssangyong has failed to adapt its supply to global demand, possibly due to lack of funds. Ssangyong’s funds have shrunk considerably in recent years, since the Korean has suffered significant losses since 2017. its loans from foreign banks will not be reimbursed (we are talking about 122 million euros in debt). Suddenly, its owner Mahindra announced that he could not help Ssangyong under the current circumstances and accepted the Korean's request to go into receivership for lack of being able to repay his debts.
- The manufacturer's product offering has always seemed out of step with the other carmakers, especially in terms of design, which is rather controversial. Boldness didn’t pay off. Ssangyong's production has sailed between 100,000 and 150,000 vehicles per year since 2011.
- This is the third time that the manufacturer has found itself in great difficulty, the first being when GM had bought Daewoo in 2001 (owner of Ssangyong since 1998) and had left the manufacturer to its doom, the second being when SAIC which had bought Ssangyong in 2004 separated from it in 2009 due to the Korean's first bankruptcy. In 2011, Ssangyong was taken over by the Indian Mahindra who is now separating due to the Korean’s second bankruptcy. It is unfortunate that no component sharing or real rationalization has been decided at Mahindra to sustain the Ssangyong business.
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Imports into China have resumed vigorously since October 2020
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Imports into China have resumed vigorously since October 2020
- In 2019, China had imported 1,111,811 vehicles, including 529,832 units from Europe (48% of imports), 300,244 units from the United States (27% of imports) and 207,857 units from Japan (19% of imports). Vehicles imported from Europe are mainly premium brand cars which are not all produced in China. Vehicles imported from the USA and Japan are mainly cars from mainstream manufacturers.
- In 2020, vehicle imports to China fell significantly due to the coronavirus crisis which weakened demand and supply. They fell 22% over the first ten months of the year, to 714,000 units against 919,000 over the same period of the previous year, while the Chinese market fell by 10% overall. This sharp drop in imports into China was one of the causes of the decline in automobile production in Europe and the United States (but not the only one).
- Since the beginning of the autumn, we have witnessed a resumption of automotive imports in China (+ 64% in October, to 95,000 units) which foreshadows a larger than normal volume of imports in November and December 2020, which could help European automobile production to restart a little more clearly than at present.
- The year 2020 should thus total a volume of around 945,000 imports into China, which would represent a drop of 15% compared to 2019. The year 2021 should total a volume of over one million and return to the levels reached in recent years (between 2016 and 2019).
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阅读全文... Imports into China have resumed vigorously since October 2020
The Top 10 by models in Russia over 10 months 2020
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The Top 10 by models in Russia over 10 months 2020
- The Russian automotive market fell 16.5% over the first 10 months of 2020, to 1.19 million light vehicles (PC + LUV) against 1.42 million units over the same period of 2019. It is in line with the world market.
- During this period, the first Russian manufacturer Lada managed to place two models in the first two places. These are the LadaGranta (97,166 sales; -10.6%) and the LadaVesta (84,317 sales; -8.1%). Both models performed better than the Russian market as a whole. Two models from the Hyundai-Kia group follow, the Kia Rio (67,940 sales; -13.0%) and the Hyundai Creta (58,786 sales; + 0%). The Volkswagen Polo (47,276 sales; + 0.3%) in fifth position, is one of the few models to progress in 2020. The Hyundai Solaris (38,142 sales; -23.5%) in sixth position, is with the Kia Rio and the Hyundai Creta the third model of the Korean group to be manufactured locally. The twenty best-selling models in Russia are all produced locally. It is one of President Putin's successes in getting automakers to produce more in Russia and getting customers to buy "Made in Russia" cars.
- By manufacturers, the Renault-Nissan group remains largely the leader of the Russian market (36% market share) thanks to the Lada brand which alone holds 21% of the Russian market, even if in the past this brand held a much larger shar. The Heyundai-Kia group is the second manufacturer, with 23% of the Russian market, ahead of the Volkswagen group (14%), the Toyota group (7%) and the two Premium manufacturers BMW (3%) and Daimler (3%).
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