+++ AUDI is accelerating work on a new entry-level EV that will serve as an electric equivalent to the A3 and Q3, with boss Gernot Döllner claiming it will be a “wonderful, unique, independent concept”. The compact model is tipped to arrive in 2027, with Döllner saying it will be the product of an accelerated development time of around 3 years as the German firm bids to compete against fast-moving Chinese rivals. Following the demise of the A1 and Q2, the A3 and Q3 will be the smallest cars in Audi’s ICE range. The A3 has just been refreshed and a new version of the Q3 is due soon. Döllner refused to give details of the new EV beyond it being an “additional electric model below the Q4 e-Tron” but did say “it will be a wonderful, unique independent vehicle concept, produced in Ingolstadt, and it will be something we can all look forward to”. Given the popularity of SUVs, the entry-level EV could take the form of a high-riding crossover rather than a conventional hatchback, serving as a sibling model to the Q3. At last year’s Munich motor show, then Audi technical chief Oliver Hoffman hinted that the new model would use the Volkswagen Group’s MEB EV platform (which underpins the Q4 e-Tron) rather than the higher-end PPE architecture Audi has just launched. That platform is intended for bigger cars, such as the new Q6 e-Tron. Döllner didn’t rule out MEB as the basis but insisted that the “final decision on which platform we will use has not been taken”. Döllner did rule out an EV to succeed the A1, saying: “This is not a 4-meter car. I’m not that dogmatic. We won’t have a successor for the A1 or Q2, not a direct successor. But with the model below the Q4 e-Tron in the A3 segment: that will be definitely our entry-level car”. While Döllner gave no indication what name the new EV could take, Audi has recently switched its model number strategy so that even numbers are used for electric cars and odd numbers are used for ICE cars. That suggests the future entry-level EV is likely to be called the A2 e-Tron or Q2 e-Tron, even through it would bear no relation to the previous models with those names. +++
+++ BENTLEY reported a lower operating profit for 2023 after a weak economy and high interest rates hit sales, but the company said its performance had stabilized and new launches would boost it in 2024. “We had an uneven performance for the first time in about 4 years”, CEO Adrian Hallmark told reporters. “Even though our customers can still afford our cars, there was a level of emotional sensitivity that slowed down demand”. For those who leased rather than bought cars with a starting pre-tax price above 220.000 euro, interest rates had led to a tripling in monthly fees last year, Hallmark said. He said the launch of 4 high-performance hybrids this year should spur sales as the company gears up to launch its first fully electric Bentley in 2026. Bentley is aiming for an all-electric model lineup by 2030, but Hallmark said its hybrids were likely to be on sale after that deadline as the company seeks to ensure a return on its substantial investment. The luxury automaker in January reported an 11% drop in sales for 2023 following a record year in 2022. The British luxury unit of Volkswagen posted an operating profit of 589 million pounds ($748 million) for 2023, down nearly 17% from 708 million pounds in 2022. Revenue was down 13% at 2.94 billion pounds from a year earlier and the company said its profit margin dropped to 20.1% from 20.9% in 2022 because of investments in new vehicles. +++
+++ Strong products, strong demand, strong results: Following a successful 2023, in which it reported its highest-ever operating result, the BMW GROUP aims to continue on its profitable growth course in the current financial year. Fully-electric vehicles (BEVs) and models from the upper premium segment should remain the main growth drivers again in 2024, including the 7 Series, the X7 and the Rolls-Royce model family, with the fully-electric Spectre. In both segments, the BMW Group expects to see significant double-digit growth in the current financial year. In addition, the 5 Series models, including the i5, which will also be available for the first time as a fully-electric Touring model this year, plus vehicles from BMW M GmbH, will contribute as well. Overall, the BMW Group expects to see a slight increase in deliveries in 2024. In 2023, the BMW Group significantly increased (+74.2%) its sales of fully-electric vehicles to over 375.000 units, clearly underlining its role as an e-mobility pioneer. The company thus delivered significantly more fully-electric vehicles to customers than its direct European competitors and also significantly more than most of the new-entry players from Asia and the US. This success is built on the strong product substance of these vehicles, as confirmed by numerous studies. For example, in February, renowned US consumer portal Consumer Reports named BMW “best brand” for the second consecutive year. The platform compared 34 automotive manufacturers and ranked them on the basis of road test scores, reliability, customer satisfaction and safety criteria. All 12 BMW models examined received a clear “buy” recommendation, as did the 2 Mini models tested, which also earned the brand one of the top positions. Another double win came in a study conducted by US market research company J.D. Power, which looked at customers’ experience with electric vehicles: The overall winner was the BMW i4, while the best model in the lower price segment was the Mini Hatch Electric. With the fully-electric i5, which will also be released onto the market this year as the first fully-electric Touring model, and the new Mini Family, the BMW company will have a BEV option in virtually all its main segments. There will be more than 15 fully-electric models across all group brands on the market in 2024. Combined with the growing efficiency of internal combustion engines, the BMW Group has substantially lowered its fleet-wide CO2 emissions, specifically in Europe: Based on preliminary figures, EU fleet emissions were reduced to 102.1 g CO₂/km in 2023. The BMW Group thus outperformed its required fleet target of 128.5 g CO₂/ km by more than 20%. A further reduction is expected in 2024. The diversity of the BMW Group’s product range has proven to be a guarantee of growth at the start of 2024: In the first 2 months of the year, the BMW Group was able to increase its sales of fully-electric vehicles by a significant double-digit percentage, compared to the same period of last year. Growth was disproportionately strong in the US, where the company’s BEV sales almost doubled in the year to the end of February. In Europe and China, deliveries of fully-electric models also posted significant double-digit growth. At the same time, deliveries of vehicles with highly efficient combustion engines also rose in the year to the end of February. Strong customer demand for BMW Group models, regardless of the drive technology, combined with the high level of flexibility and responsiveness in the value chain, are important building blocks for the success of the company. Vehicles with plug-in hybrid technology (PHEVs) also remain an essential component of the BMW brand’s electrification strategy. Despite strong BEV growth, especially in Europe, demand for these models should remain stable this year. This technology is also making a valuable contribution to further CO2 reductions and plays a part in introducing customers to e-mobility. Company-wide, over 560.000 electrified units (BEVs + PHEVs) were already delivered to customers in 2023. This is equivalent to 22% of total BMW Group sales. The strong popularity of PHEV models has also helped the BMW Group already surpass the total of more than 2 million electrified vehicles (BEVs + PHEVs) to customers. Around 55% of these vehicles were PHEVs and about 45% BEV models. However, sales of fully-electric vehicles have risen much faster in recent years than PHEV models. The Mini and Rolls-Royce brands are well on their way to a fully-electric future from the early 2030s onwards. A glimpse of this is already provided by the new Mini family and Rolls-Royce Spectre, with the first units already delivered to customers. New orders for the Spectre already extend into 2025. Production of the new Countryman has now also ramped up for the first time at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, where it will be built as a fully-electric model and with a highly efficient internal combustion engine. With this extensive range of electric models, the BMW Group expects to maintain its consistent growth trajectory in the years to come. In the second half of the decade, the Neue Klasse, with its impressive product substance, has the potential to further accelerate the market penetration of e-mobility. Depending on prevailing market conditions in the second half of the decade, development of raw material prices and availability, and the pace at which a comprehensive charging infrastructure is created, more than 50% of all BMW Group vehicles delivered worldwide could have a fully-electric drive train before 2030. If PHEV models are included, this percentage is correspondingly higher. +++
+++ JEEP sees no threat to its position as an SUV-only brand, according to the head of the firm’s European operations, despite calls from leading industry figures for a move to smaller vehicles. The boss of Jeep Europe, Eric Laforge, said “isolated politics” would not dictate the market. “Is it better to have an Avenger e-Hybrid in the centre of Paris or a big E-segment saloon that is still damaging to the planet?” Laforge said. “I think SUVs still have a great future because of customer needs. “With an SUV, people want to be in a safer vehicle with this driving position. I don’t see why the market should suddenly change even if some isolated politics are saying that this will be strictly banned. Do you think that customers will leave SUVs even if one politician in Paris, for example, says they will be forbidden? They do a referendum and less than 3% of the population comes to vote on it”. His comments come shortly after Luca de Meo, CEO of the Renault Group, published his ‘Letter to Europe’, which outlined a plan to evolve the European car industry over the next 10 years. In the letter, de Meo highlighted the “mass development of small cars” as a key area of focus, taking inspiration from kei cars. +++
+++ American automotive media spend a lot of time and words talking about the Ford F-150’s sales dominance, but globally, it’s Tesla that has taken the top spot. The American EV maker had the MOST PRODUCED VEHICLE IN THE WORLD last year, topping Ford trucks and an uber-popular Toyota along the way. French EV research firm Inovev recently released a comprehensive study of 2023’s vehicle production and registrations and found that the Tesla Model Y overtook the Toyota RAV4 and Ford’s F-Series trucks as the most-produced vehicle of 2023. The top-25 models on the list include: Tesla Model Y: 1.137.885 units; Toyota RAV4: 989.517; Ford F-Series: 933.198; Toyota Corolla: 869.228; Honda CR-V: 679.832; Ram Trucks: 651.581, Toyota Hilux: 646.975; Toyota Camry: 645.915; BYD Song: 645.264 and Tesla Model 3: 636.519. The Chevrolet Silverado and Toyota Corolla Cross weren’t far off the Model 3’s production numbers. BYD, which landed one model in the top1-10, had 4 models in the top 25: the Song, Qin, Yuan and Dolphin. Toyota had 5 models in the top 25, while Honda had 4. The Americans and Koreans each landed 2, while the German brands earned 4 spots. While these production numbers are impressive, it’s important to note that they are not sales numbers. The Tesla Model Y also won there, with around 1.23 million units sold last year. These numbers also don’t cover automakers’ full-line sales or production numbers. Chinese company BYD said it built more than 3 million vehicles last year, far outpacing Tesla’s 1.84 million cars. BYD’s vehicles are far less expensive than Tesla’s and don’t currently sell in the U.S., so a firm comparison is difficult to make. BYD makes hybrids and other non-EVs, but even when slimming the view down to just electric models, the company holds a commanding presence in its home market. Inovev found that BYD’s 25 percent market share dwarfs Tesla’s 15 percent in China. Even so, that Tesla landed the Model Y in the top global production spot and the Model 3 at number-10 is impressive enough. +++
+++ A new law will come into force in the European Union on 7 July that is intended to regulate cyber security in cars already on the market in order to make hacker attacks on vehicles more difficult. And if manufacturers or suppliers cannot prove that they already had a certified management system in place when the vehicles were being developed, there are really only 2 options. Either the affected vehicle is brought up to the latest cyber security standard, or the model must be withdrawn from the program. Furthermore, as the investment costs here can be extremely high, the Volkswagen Group is not only taking the Up and the Transporter T6.1 out of the program for good, but PORSCHE has also been forced to cut back and is removing the 718 Boxster, the 718 Cayman and the petrol-powered Macan from its program. But not just on the cut-off date, but with immediate effect. On the Porsche website, you can still find the 718 models in the configurator, but only with the note “Sold out” and because the manufacturer still wants to give its customers and interested parties the “opportunity to continue viewing the model in the Car Configurator”. It would probably take too long to build, deliver and register a freely configured vehicle now. However, the stock of new vehicles can still be enquired about at dealers and the models will also continue to be produced for export markets. And what about successors? The switch to electric drive could perhaps happen faster than some Porsche fans would like. As early as 2017, Porsche teased a purely electric Cayman study, which was to serve as a springboard for the development of an electric car. And since 2021, there have also been increasing indications of a corresponding Boxster model. Recently, there have also been repeated sightings of silent Porsche sports cars that are clearly smaller than a current 911. If we now add up all the evidence and include the new electric Macan in the equation, which was electrified almost exactly ten years after its launch as the original model, then we could expect the Boxster and Cayman to make their debut as EV models as early as 2025. The sporty siblings would then come onto the market as 2026 models. In other words, exactly ten years after the introduction of the Type 982. +++
+++ While awareness of environmental issues and the impact of humans on nature is growing worldwide, there are still societies that are reluctant to embrace the inevitable change. Electric vehicles are not the solution to all the environmental problems caused by internal combustion vehicles, but they can help reduce emissions from urban and rural transport. They have their advantages and disadvantages, so legislation should not exclude other solutions. Ultimately, any useful technology should be welcome. Among the major economies where the automotive industry is a key driver of prosperity, is the UNITED STATES , which has been slow to adopt electric vehicles. Although there has been some progress in recent years, these cars still play a minor role in the industry and are simply not selling. Why? Here are the 4 main reasons: 1) Petrol station culture – SUVs and pick-up trucks have caught on in America. The need for more cargo and interior space and more power outside the cities made them very popular with US consumers. Americans like everything big: shopping centres, airports, highways, car parks, plates of food, cups of coffee and of course, vehicles. No other country has as many generously sized vehicles as the United States. As a result, vehicles are powered by large engines, and these are thirsty for petrol. A lot of fuel is needed to move vehicles, whose average weight in 2023 was 2.254 kg for SUVs and 2.649 kg for pick-ups. The vast energy resources available in the US have made it possible for consumers to get around in this way without worrying about refuelling. The American economy relies heavily on the oil and petrol industry, as does the consumer culture. That’s why muscle cars, pony cars, huge trucks, big vans and SUVs have proliferated more than anywhere else. It will take time to change this mentality of easy access to petrol. And it will take even longer to move from this traditional way of driving to a completely new reality in which this fuel no longer plays the main role. 2) Prices at the petrol pumps – The good state of the US economy in terms of the availability of energy sources has a direct impact on petrol prices across the country. The price of fuel in the United States remains much lower than in many other countries where government environmental protection policies result in high fuel taxes. In Germany, for example, the average price of a gallon of petrol in February 2024 was the equivalent of over $7, compared to only around $3.50 in the United States. Due to the relatively low cost of operating an internal combustion vehicle in the US, there is currently no strong financial incentive for consumers to switch to electric vehicles. 3) Laws are not helpful – As a result of increasing competition from China and its plans for global expansion, the US government has begun to take measures to prevent or discourage their arrival. The IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act, is intended to promote the local production of electric cars and their components. Despite good intentions for the US economy, the law puts local BEV manufacturers in a difficult position. In an attempt to take China out of the equation when it comes to battery production and metal suppliers, the IRA simply makes it harder for companies like Tesla, General Motors, Ford or Volkswagen to produce locally given supply chain constraints. The lack of competitive raw materials could make the IRA a barrier to US automakers producing BEVs. It’s another reason for consumers to delay the switch from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. 40% of battery raw materials must come from the USA or from countries with which the country has concluded a free trade agreement. No battery components manufactured in China. No battery metals mined or processed in China. 80% of battery raw materials must come from the US or countries with which the country has a free trade agreement. 4) A political controversy – US citizens are preparing for the election campaign that will decide the next president. The most promising candidates are Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and electric vehicles will be a major issue in the battle for the White House. On the one hand, the current administration is trying to assert the country’s interests against the IRA, and on the other, there is strong rhetoric that automatically associates BEVs with China. The political uncertainty is forcing some automakers to postpone their electrification plans, which sends a negative message to potential EV customers. +++
