+++ BYD is closing in on a deal to build a massive $1 billion EV plant in Turkey. The news comes after BYD opened its first factory in Thailand, with others planned in Brazil and Mexico as it expands in overseas markets. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is expected to officially announce the deal on Monday. Officials told there will be a ceremony in Manisa province, where the plant will be built. BYD’s new plant could help it overcome the potential impacts of new EU tariffs on Chinese EV imports. This week, the European Union placed extra tariffs of up to 38.1% on electric cars from China. Although BYD was included, it was at the lower end, with an additional 17.4% rate. Rivals like SAIC are set to receive an extra 38.1% duties, raising the rate as high as 48.1%. BYD expects to overcome the extra duties as it makes more on some EVs in Europe than in China due to the “EU premium”. According to a study from Rhodium Group, BYD earns about 14.300 euro on each Seal U model sold in the EU. In China, it earns around 1.300 euro. The report notes EU tariffs would need to be raised to 50% or higher to make an impact, but it could hurt European automakers even more. Meanwhile, Turkey eased tariffs last week to encourage investments, including from BYD. Electric cars accounted for 7.5% of new vehicle sales in Turkey last year, opening a significant opportunity for the Chinese EV maker. The new EV plant in Turkey comes after BYD opened its first factory in Thailand on Thursday. BYD is already the top-selling EV brand in Thailand, but the country is moving quickly toward electric cars. Thailand aims for 30% of vehicles made in the country to be electric by 2030. BYD already accounts for nearly 50% of the Thai EV market. It’s also the third largest passenger car brand with a 9% share. However, recent price cuts of up to nearly $10,000 have sparked an investigation by authorities. BYD is also building an EV plant in Brazil, with another one in Mexico likely to be announced soon. With factories in key global markets, BYD looks to accelerate its overseas expansion. After selling 426.039 EVs in the second quarter of the year, BYD was barely topped by Tesla (443.956) for the title of the world’s largest EV maker. However, a new study from Counterpoint Research suggests BYD will take the title by the end of 2024. +++
+++ The European Union’s new tariffs on electric cars from CHINA arriving on the continent came into force. We already knew that different automakers were being hit with different tariff levels, but now we know why, because the full European Commission’s report reveals for the first time exactly what kind of help China gives its car industry. And it’s on a bigger scale than you imagined. Loans from state-owned banks, other kinds of financing, grants, sales incentives, cut-price land for factories and heavily subsidized batteries all feature on the Commission’s report detailing help provided by the Chinese government. The Commission broke down the amount of help each automaker received to determine what level of tariff it would apply. And MG’s owner SAIC was judged to receive more assistance than some other companies, the EU determining that its subsidies amounted to 34.4. percent. That figure included 1.38 percent for loans from state-owned banks, 8.27 percent from other financing, 8.56 percent in grants, 2.28 percent in EV sales incentives, 0.67 percent for discounted real estate and 13.24 percent accounted for by batteries worth far more than SAIC paid for them. And that’s on top of the lower production costs that come from building a car in China in the first place, rather than Europe, where labour rates are higher. No wonder MG could afford to sell the electric 4 for almost $13,000 less than Volkswagen charges for an ID.3. SAIC was also judged to have been less the cooperative with the investigation, which is another reason why it was slapped with the maximum 37.6 percent duty on top of the 10 percent tariff already in place. BYD and Geely were assessed to receive less government help and both were transparent with the Commission team, which is why they only face 17.4 and 19.9 percent tariffs. But the reports authors noted that while BYD, unlike SAIC, builds its own batteries, it does so using materials like lithium that are subsidised by the government. Despite holding talks with the EU over the past couple of weeks, China’s auto industry was unable to persuade the regulators to abandon their tariff plans. But the new duty system is only provisional for the first 4 months and both sides will continue to communicate in the weeks ahead. China has already warned Europe that it will retaliate with import tariffs of its own if the situation can’t be resolved amicably. +++
+++ CITROEN ’s latest C3 and ë-C3 ushered in a new design language for the brand, and now the French automaker’s designers have the tricky job of updating the firm’s older, curvier cars with some of the same styling cues, starting with the C4. The C4 is a genre-blurring machine, a crossover-style SUV that actually competes with traditional hatchbacks like the Volkswagen Golf and the Opel Astra. And besides the higher ride height and fastback silhouette, what has helped the C4 stand out from those cars since its launch in 2020 is its split headlight treatment. But it looks like Citroen is turning that styling idea on its head this year. While the current C4 has a set of ultra-slim DRLs at the top of the bumper and a bigger main lamp unit below (a treatment Citroen pioneered way back in 2014 with the C4 Cactus) the new C4 looks like it’s inheriting a version of the C3’s lights. On the C3 the DRLs are mounted below the headlights, while the main lamp unit also gets an inbuilt DRL strip, and both are connected by a fat vertical DRL. With all of the prototype’s disguise in place we can’t be sure exactly how the re-nosed C4 will look when it steps out onto the stage later this year, probably at October’s Paris Motor Show. But what we can see of the lights through the camo suggests they’ll be similar to the C3’s, and Citroen will also apply the smaller car’s new-look double-chevron logo at the same time. The front-end sheet metal, though, remains curvy, not boxy, like the C3’s, so there’s only so much the design team can do to visually link its old and new models. These same changes will also apply to the electric e-C4 and the C4’s sedan brother, the C4 X. The C4 X was only introduced in May 2022, but since both cars are built at the same Madrid plant and share the same DNA forward of the B-pillars it makes sense to upgrade them at, or close to, the same time. Neither model is likely to receive any major powertrain upgrades since Citroen already started equipping the C4’s with the new Stellantis 136 hp mild-hybrid engine in February of this year. +++
+++ Following the arrival of the Duster (4.34 metres long), many are also eagerly awaiting the Bigster, the bigger brother, which is due to arrive in 2025. But will there be an urban SUV from DACIA in the 4-metre range? It would certainly make a lot of sense, because it is a type of vehicle that is in great demand, especially in Europe. In fact, Stellantis has strengthened its brands with such models: Jeep Avenger, Opel Frontera and Mokka, Fiat 600, Peugeot 2008…. Of all of them, the Romanian model would stand out, of course, because of its lower price, which could revolutionise the market and make the dream of many customers of owning an SUV come true. At the moment, it is a project that does not seem to be underway, but let’s give it some time. After all, it would be using the CMF-B platform from the Duster and Sandero to create a vehicle with the brand’s latest design language. That means it would be a scaled-down Duster, with a rugged, country look. The engines? Quite simple: it would inherit those of the Sandero, i.e. the 100 bhp 1.0 Eco-G bi-fuel motor and the 90 hp TCe petrol to keep costs down. Yes, because including the 140 hp hybrid powertrain would mean a slightly higher price for the customer. Renault has the Captur in the same market niche, so it could also have some elements of its French cousin, which is made in Valladolid. A small SUV from the Romanian brand would be a good entry into the market. It could be on sale from about €20.000 in the Netherlands. A price that many people could afford, don’t you think? It would certainly be an ace on the table for Dacia and would directly target the Citroën C3 Aircross, which would be the main rival of this new cheap SUV. +++
+++ Increased production of JLR ’s (Jaguar Land Rover) most profitable models boosted its global sales (and therefore its revenue) in the first 3 months of the 2024/25 financial year. Range Rover and Range Rover Sport wholesale volumes (sales to dealers) increased 22% and 46%, thanks to the opening of a new body shop at Solihull. JLR said its most profitable models (which also include the Land Rover Defender) will be prioritised for production slots as it continues with its value-over-volume strategy. This will be boosted by the arrival of the limited-run Defender Octa and much-anticipated Range Rover Electric for which there is now a waiting list of more than 39.000 customers. +++
+++ A bit like ghosting (the increasingly common practice of ignoring another person in order to close relations), TESLA executives have broken off contact with Indian officials, putting on hold a deal that seemed to have been concluded. We’re talking about the possibility for the American company to open an electric car factory in the Indian subcontinent, kick-starting expansion in a region where battery-powered vehicles are attracting heavy investment and where Elon Musk and co. have been aiming to land for a long time. It was early 2021 when New Delhi began courting the Texan manufacturer, proposing unprecedented incentives to attract capital to India. Nothing came of it then and the track remained cold for about 2 years. However, we arrive at 2023 and an initial meeting between CEO Elon Musk and president Narendra Modi; a face-to-face meeting that culminated months later with the Indian government’s decision to reduce duties on imports of electric vehicles to certain manufacturers, on condition that they undertake to invest at least half a billion dollars in local production within 3 years. In short, everything seemed to be done, so much so that, on the one hand, there was talk of the subcontinent as the cradle of the much-awaited Tesla Model 2 electric car and, on the other, Musk had planned a second trip to India. Instead, nothing as the CEO decided at the last minute to cancel the flight. Now some local officials report of a slowdown in the negotiations, which are not expected to be unblocked any time soon due to financial problems and a consequent commitment to invest in the near future. In fact, the company is coming off a 6-month downturn compared to the same period last year. So are the plans for the €25.000 car changing? +++
+++ For the first time in 5 years, the UNITED KINGDOM ’s new car market has surpassed the half-million mark within the first half of the year. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), new car registrations in June saw a modest increase of 1.1 percent, totalling 179.263 units. This brings the cumulative total for the first 6 months of 2024 to an impressive 1.006.763 new cars registered, marking a 6.0 percent rise from last year. However, this figure remains 20.7 percent lower than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. The slight uptick in June was largely driven by the fleet sector, which experienced a significant surge of 14.2 percent in new registrations. In contrast, private retail demand continued to decline, dropping for the ninth month in a row by 15.3 percent. Retail buyers now make up less than 40 percent of the market, accounting for 37.7 percent of new car registrations. UK’s best-selling models in June were: Kia Sportage – 4.113, Nissan Juke – 3.891, Tesla Model Y – 3.642, Volkswagen Golf – 3.463, BMW 1-series – 3.397, Hyundai Tucson – 3.271, Nissan Qashqai – 3.194, Ford Puma – 3.169, MG ZS – 3.113 and Tesla Model 3 – 3.111. The growth in the market was also bolstered by the increasing popularity of electrified vehicles. Plug-in hybrid vehicles saw a substantial rise of 30.0 percent, capturing a 9.3 percent market share. Hybrid vehicles also performed well, with a 27.2 percent increase, securing 14.9 percent of the market. Despite this, battery-electric vehicles exhibited a more modest growth of 7.4 percent. “The year’s midpoint sees the new car market in its best state since 2021, but this belies the bigger challenge ahead. The private consumer market continues to shrink against a difficult economic backdrop, but with the right policies in place, the next government can re-energise the market and deliver a faster, fairer zero-emission transition”, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, commented. The coming months will be crucial in determining whether the market can maintain its momentum and continue to rebound from the challenges of recent years. For now, the milestone of reaching over a million new car registrations is a notable achievement, signalling a cautiously optimistic outlook for the UK’s automotive sector. +++