+++ The subject of cars from CHINA is always topical, especially when it comes to the new electric models that are invading or preparing to invade the European market. But how many and which Chinese cars are sold on the Old Continent? To get an idea, I thought I’d put together a ranking of the best-selling ‘Made in China cars’ in Europe, using the latest data from Jato Dynamics covering the first 2 months of 2024 (European Union+Norway+Switzerland+United Kingdom). Let’s start with 100% Chinese cars, i.e. models designed, manufactured and produced in China under Chinese-owned brands. In this first ranking, we also include the MGs which, although bearing a historic British brand, are a product of the Asian country and were born under the wing of SAIC Motor. The top seller is the MG ZS, with 14.085 European registrations between January and February 2024. The MG 4 is in second place, with 8.805 cars registered in the first 2 months of 2024. Third place goes to the larger MG HS, with 7.795 registrations so far this year. The BYD Atto 3 is just off the podium, but with a significant gap in terms of registrations (2.132). Next came the BYD Seal (1.082 registrations), the MG 5 (1.029), the BYD Dolphin (987), the Xpeng G9 (530), the MG Marvel R (362), the Zeekr 001 (263), the BYD Han (185), the BYD Tang (167), the Aiways U5 (111), the Nio ET5 (65), the Nio EL6 (62), the Hongqi E-HS9 (56), the Nio ES8 (56), the Xpeng P7 (51), the Voyah Free (47), the Nio ET7 (41), the Nio EL7 (34), the Zeekr X (31) and the BYD Seal U (10). The second ranking is reserved for cars of European (but also Euro-Chinese) or American make that are produced (in whole or in part) in China for sale on our markets. You’ll find both European-brand cars manufactured in China and cars derived from Chinese models and adapted or completed for our markets. The best-selling ‘Chinese’ in this case is the Tesla Model 3, with 14.300 units sold over the 2-month period. The American electric saloon for Europe is assembled in the Shanghai Gigafactory in 2 versions: RWD and Long Range AWD. In second place was the Dacia Spring (6.155 units). In third place is the all-new Volvo EX30 (5.980 units). Fourth place went to the Polestar 2 (2.418 cars). Next came the BMW iX3 (2.195), the Smart #1 (1.833), the Lynk & Co 01 (1.240), the Smart #3 (656), the Citroën C5 X (501), the Lotus Eletre (207), the DS 9 (82) and the Cupra Tavascan (31). +++
+++ Things have gone from bad to worse for FISKER . On Tuesday, the embattled electric vehicle startup announced in a regulatory filing that it expects to file for bankruptcy within the next 30 days if it can’t get relief from its creditors or raise some extra cash. Fisker also said it missed an $8.4 million interest payment in March, leading it to default on that loan. To stave off the worst, the company is cutting costs. In the filing, it said it “intends to further reduce its workforce and streamline its operations, including reducing its physical footprint”. Fisker has been struggling to stay afloat for some time now. In February, the company said that it could run out of money within 12 months and that it planned to cut 15% of staff. It paused all development of future vehicles and sought a life raft from an established car manufacturer, reportedly Nissan. But those talks ultimately fell through. It was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange due to an “abnormally low” share price. To generate as much cash as possible, Fisker slashed prices for the Ocean, its debut product. Fisker began delivering its SUV in 2023 but struggled to ramp up sales. On Monday, Fisker also said it had hired a Chief Restructuring Officer in a separate filing. The company’s decline has left Ocean owners in a difficult spot. Their vehicles, some of which cost around $70.000 when new, have depreciated by thousands of dollars virtually overnight. The prospect of bankruptcy raises doubts about whether Ocean drivers will be able to get their vehicles serviced. While many Ocean owners like their cars, the vehicles have been far from worry-free. Owners told about all sorts of nagging software bugs, as well as more serious issues. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating various problems with the vehicles. Of course, there’s still a chance that Fisker will pull through with the help of some partnership. But the clock is ticking. +++
+++ GEELY will produce cars in Europe, although “where” is still to be defined. 2 years ago, the Chinese giant approached Poland by striking a deal, but the new government will have to decide by the summer whether or not to support the previous administration’s plan and give the green light to build the Geely electric vehicle plant. The support would come from EU funds, a senior official close to the Polish government told, but if Poland does not go ahead, the Chinese group could move to other European countries. One of the most likely would be Spain, where China’s Chery Auto has struck a deal. Madrid will open 2 tenders this year for companies interested in producing cars, requesting a total of €1.7 billion in loans and grants from EU pandemic relief funds. Poland is finalizing a revised spending plan for Brussels, as it has just over 2 years left to spend almost €60 billion in loans and grants received from the EU. You might remember that ElectroMobility Poland (EMP) has signed a license agreement with Geely to use its SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) platform for the Izera brand. “Building the plant with Geely, which was chosen as a partner for the project in 2022, was not the ideal solution”, Jan Szyszko, deputy minister of development funds, said. “But the alternative of supporting operational projects, including the construction of buses, also had limitations”. Given the money already spent on the project, it should be continued, but it is up to the experts to recommend the formula to the government ‘within a few weeks’, the Minister of State Assets, Borys Budka, told Polsat News television. +++
+++ The Chinese media says Jaguar Land Rover ( JLR ) is close to signing a deal with Chery (China’s third-largest automaker) to gain access to its EV platforms. The 2 companies are already working together to build cars in China, so the news isn’t surprising. This new EV platform-sharing scheme was also confirmed by a company representative, saying that 2 premium European automakers were interested in the Chery E0X architecture for high-end cars. JLR intends to build plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles on the Chery platform. Future JLR EVs and PHEVs will share the platform and tech with vehicles from Chery’s Exeed luxury brand, but no additional information was shared. There is no time frame for when the first Chery-based JLR plug-ins will debut, but the British automaker has announced that it plans to launch 6 pure-electric models by 2026 across all its brands. The first new JLR EV will be an all-electric Range Rover that should be revealed later this year, but we don’t know if it will be built on the Chery platform. The Jaguar-Land Rover group has been a subsidiary of India’s Tata Motors since 2008, and it has only ever produced one EV, the Jaguar I-Pace. It was also working on a fully electric Jaguar XJ luxury sedan, but the plug was pulled on the project as it was nearing completion, and it left the automaker trailing behind its luxury rivals from Germany, which already have entire lineups of EVs. JLR rebranded itself last year and announced that Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar would be separate sub-brands. JLR and Chery have been in a joint venture in China since 2012, which handles the local production of the Jaguar XF long-wheelbase, the Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport. The company has vowed to only sell EVs after 2023 and reach carbon net zero emissions by 2039 while applying what it calls an Open Innovation strategy to help it get there. This means it is open to collaborating with third parties to cut costs on its end as well as speed up the development of various systems in the areas of electrification, connectivity and sustainability. +++
+++ There is concern about the latest results at MASERATI. Public sales figures for most European markets, USA-Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and some emerging markets show that the good results the luxury brand has achieved in recent months are coming to an end. Maserati is in a renaissance phase since the introduction of the MC20 in 2020. With an ageing saloon range and the Levante arriving late without ever taking off, the Italian carmaker has launched a new product offensive that has included 4 sports cars and a new SUV. Since September 2020, the Maserati MC20, MC20 Cielo, Grecale, GranTurismo and now the GranCabrio were launched. Global shipments increased from 16.900 units in 2020 to 26.700 units last year. The 58 percent increase was mainly driven by the Grecale, the brand’s smallest and most economical SUV that rivals the Porsche Macan and other mid-size premium SUVs. In 2023, in fact, the Grecale accounted for 53% of the brand’s overall volume. However, the positive impact of the Grecale was offset by the decline of Maserati’s older products: the Ghibli, the Quattroporte and above all the Levante which accounted for 53% of global sales in 2022. Preliminary figures for March 2024 reveal that global Grecale volumes were down 24% compared to the same month last year. The drop followed 2 months of stable sales in January and February. Although we cannot yet conclude that Grecale’s sales performance has peaked, it is quite worrying for the brand that sales have not increased this year. In fact, adding up the preliminary results for January, February and March 2024, the Grecale was down 11 percent on the first quarter of 2023. Add to that the massive declines recorded by the Levante (-71%) and Ghibli (-69%), and the situation is tough for Maserati. The result is that the brand’s estimated global sales in the first 3 months of this year are down 29% to around 4.500 units. Although Maserati is working on all-electric versions for both the Grecale and GranTurismo, these will not be enough to stop the decline. Part of the negative results in the first quarter of the year can be explained by the decline in China. Disputed internal issues, technical problems that have led to recent recalls, high maintenance costs and the decline of the Ferrari engine have all contributed to lower sales in the world’s largest market. Things are also expected to get tougher in the coming months after the introduction of the all-new Porsche Macan. It is a direct rival to the Grecale and can easily take sales away from the Italian SUV. The slowdown in demand for electric vehicles would also affect the recent Grecale and GranTurismo electric variants. Maserati has great potential in the luxury segments. It just needs more consistency in product planning to avoid situations like the current one where the commercial performance of a new product is offset by declines in older ones. +++
+++ NISSAN ’s future (like that of many other manufacturers) is completely electric. The Japanese manufacturer is preparing for the big leap towards the mobility of the future by working on several fronts. And among the most interesting innovations to be introduced are solid-state batteries and new production methods. These are 2 aspects of the brand’s activities that had already been announced in the past, but on which the company wanted to take stock with a new communication in which it states that it wants to maintain a leading role on the global automotive scene by focusing on cutting-edge technologies. Nissan, which is currently the third largest Japanese carmaker in terms of sales volume behind Toyota and Honda, confirms that it intends to introduce solid-state batteries to the market in 2028 and produce them on a large scale from the following year. To be ready, it will soon start pilot lines at a new factory in Yokohama, where it will refine the design of the new cells to bring batteries with higher energy density and faster recharging speed to market. According to plans, production of the first solid-state batteries will begin in March 2025 and will employ around 100 workers per shift. From then on, production will be gradually increased to around 100 Mw per year in April 2028. Nissan has also said it will radically reorganize its production lines with the introduction of giga presses similar to those already used by Tesla and soon to be used by many other manufacturers. This revolution, which will be used to make large body parts of future electric cars in a single mould, will reduce production costs by 10 percent and save up to 20 percent in component weight. “In the end, we decided to use a 6.000-tonne gigacasting machine to make the rear structure of the cars using aluminium casting”, said Hideyuki Sakamoto, executive vice-president with responsibility for production and the supply chain. It will all contribute to Nissan’s goal of making a new line of electric cars that cost 30 percent less than the current generation and thus achieve cost parity with internal combustion models. +++
+++ The Euro-Asian alliance between the VOLKSWAGEN GROUP and Xpeng is showing the first fruits of its labor. It is a platform for electric cars christened China Electrical Architecture (CEA) and will be fitted on VW-branded cars that the Sino-German duo will produce and sell in China from 2026. Announcing the progress is the eastern manufacturer, which speaks of a 40% cost reduction compared to the MEB platform developed in Germany. The secrets of this technology? Fewer control units and the presence of a central computer and structures governing electronics and other functions, such as autonomous driving. The new creature is an offspring of the Edward platform used in the Xpeng G9. In fact, it was the 2 companies, who declared that the joint program would also draw from the current electric SUV skeleton. All this as part of a broader agreement, which also includes the production of 2 electric cars (starting with an SUV), synergetic procurement of various components and collaboration on software. But that’s not all, because the partnership includes the acquisition of 4.99% of the Asian start-up by Volkswagen: a move costing €700 million and allowing Wolfsburg to get its hands on the technologies of the Asian company, founded in 2014 and ahead of many other competitors. Among the company’s flagships are above all the V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) and XNGP systems, corresponding to Tesla’s FSD (Full Self-Driving). So we are facing a first example of bridging Europe and China in the four-wheel industry. ‘Competition is very fierce and we have to adapt our cost structure to be competitive in this environment’, comments Ralf Brandstätter, head of Volkswagen Group China. “This is a decisive step in our development of China-specific smart connected vehicles and the acceleration of our strong ‘In China, for China’ strategy”. +++