+++ BMW emerged as the winner of the U.S. luxury sales crown for 2024 in a tight race with Toyota’s Lexus brand. The German company said its U.S. sales rose 8.9 percent to 117.506 in the fourth quarter, allowing the German brand to finish the year up 2.5 percent at 371.346. Lexus had its best U.S. sales year at 345.669 to take second place, while Mercedes-Benz finished up 8 percent at 88.259 in the final quarter, and ended the year up 9 percent at 324.528, finishing third. +++
+++ The FIAT 500 ELECTRIC has been on the market since 2020 and still has its fans thanks to its chic retro look, low consumption of electricity and city-friendly dimensions. However, there are now other attractive models available for the same price. Customers seem to have realised this last year: After reaching 4th place in German electric car sales in 2023 as a whole, this year is probably only good enough for the top-15. The same picture worldwide: 44.000 units were sold in 2021, in the following years 66.000 and 65.000 units respectively, but 2024 there will probably be fewer than 20.000 vehicles. A bitter minus, if the figures are correct. One indication of the difficulties with sales is that production in Turin-Mirafiori has to be interrupted time and again. Fiat has therefore decided to give the 500e an update, as Stellantis announced back in April. A revised platform including improved batteries is intended to increase the range and reduce costs. The car is also to receive new motors; it remains to be seen whether these will be the familiar 136 or 156 hp units. The Fiat 500 Electric is the only Stellantis model based on its own platform, which is an evolution of the Alfa Romeo MiTo architecture. Batteries with 21.3 and 37.3 kWh are currently offered, providing a maximum range of 321 kilometres. Motors with 95 and 118 hp are available. The batteries are supplied by Samsung. There will soon also be a mild hybrid version with a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder engine, which was previously rejected. The new variant is to be presented in November 2025 and will boost sales figures from 2026. As far as the electric model is concerned, a successor was supposedly planned for 2027, but the launch has now reportedly been postponed to 2030. The basis is to be STLA Small. This will finally place the isolated model on a Group platform that is also used by other models. STLA Small is set to launch at the end of 2025/beginning of 2026, as former Group CEO Tavares said at the end of November. The platform will then be the fourth and final STLA platform to be launched on the market. It will underpin the new generation of small cars, i.e. the successors to the Opel Corsa Electric, Peugeot E-208, as well as small SUVs such as the Opel Mokka Electric and Jeep Avenger, all of which are currently still based on eCMP. In the future, these models will have batteries between 37 and 82 kWh, with drive systems starting at 95 PS. The current Fiat 500 Electric is no longer really competitive. So it’s no wonder that sales figures are falling. However, an improved version with new motors and batteries is expected in 2025. The successor based on the STLA Small, on the other hand, has apparently been postponed until 2030. This means that there are 4 to 5 years between the modified and the completely new version. +++
+++ HONDA is considering a replacement for its funky E electric hatchback, with a development plan being looked at for a small sub-€35.000 EV that would sit outside the brand’s new 7-car 0 Series platform. Honda’s Global Head of Electrification Business Development Katsushi Inoue says the brand is aware of the growing need for more affordable electric cars. He also confirmed that the 0 Series platform wouldn’t support anything smaller than a Civic-sized car. “We are thinking about it away from 0 Series”, he said. “We’re at the development stage, nothing is committed today but we understand that a new market is coming. We know the market is there; 0 Series can’t go that small so we will take care of the main market first. Eventually in the future we will talk about smaller vehicles, we will need to develop another sized platform”. As well as the 0 Series development, Honda also has EV platforms and models built for either Japanese or Chinese markets that it could dial into, or develop new underpinnings for a smaller EV or family of EVs. Of the 7 cars confirmed under the 0 Series plan between now and 2030, the SUV and saloon will reach global markets from next year, with a baby SUV to be revealed in 2026; at this stage only confirmed for Asian markets, although Europe is a possibility. A larger 7-seat SUV in 2027 is likely to be only for the US market. Beyond that, a compact SUV is expected in 2028, a year ahead of another smaller SUV, plus a compact saloon by the end of the decade. Although China and Japan are the target markets for the smallest SUV coming next year, Honda’s BEV General Manager Mitsuri Kariya admitted that although it’s not decided, he would like to see the baby electric SUV come to European markets as well. +++
+++ American sales figures continue to trickle in and the latest come from MERCEDES . They paint an interesting picture that shows a preference for gas-powered performance instead of eco-friendly EVs. Starting with the latter, Mercedes-AMG posted a record 4th quarter with sales of 16.169 units. The G-Class also had its best year ever as customers snapped up 10.987 units. While that’s good news, Mercedes bet big on electric vehicles and this appears to be a bust. EQB sales were down 36% for the year, while the EQE line-up fell 39%. The range-topping EQS line-up was even harder hit as sales plummeted 52% to a disappointing 6.963 units. SUVs were unsurprisingly the best-selling models of 2024. The GLE took the sales crown with 67.928 units and was closely followed by the GLC, which racked up 64.163 sales. In a distant third place was the C-Class, which moved 35.590 units for a slight increase of 1%. The company’s other sedans experienced a decline as the CLA was down 2%, while the E-Class was off by half as much. The S-Class fared far worse as sales fell 25% to 8.809 units. Coupes and convertibles found solid footing as the new CLE line-up generated 14.333 sales. The AMG GT climbed 77% to 3.491 units, but the SL fell 56% to 1.608. Overall, Mercedes-Benz USA finished the year on a positive note as passenger vehicle sales were up 9% to 324.528 units. That trailed BMW (371.346) and Lexus (345.669), but the brand beat Audi (196.576), Cadillac (160.204), Acura (132.367), Volvo (125.243), Lincoln (104,823) and Infiniti (58.070). +++
+++ I’m a big advocate of electric cars, especially if they’re small and energy efficient. I am also a petrolhead, so I hope that the cars enthusiasts love can continue to live on through more sustainable fuels. But try as I might, whether I’m looking at them from a financial point of view or an environmental one, I can’t see the point of PLUG-IN HYBRIDS . Having driven almost all of the new options on sale today, I know that without religious battery charging, they just become overweight, thirsty internal combustion-enginged cars. I’ve found this out first-hand on many occasions; with the Alfa Romeo Tonale 1.5 Plug-in Hybrid for instance, and also the Range Rover Evoque P270e. In-depth research suggests that many plug-in drivers don’t charge up their cars as often as they could, either. A study by the European Commission on real-world fuel consumption and emissions data covering 623.861 post-2021 petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles showed that petrol PHEVs’ CO2 emissions were a staggering 238 percent higher in everyday driving than the official WLTP data. Diesel PHEVs were even worse, at 312 percent over. While petrol cars also didn’t live up to their WLTP numbers, they came significantly closer, being on average 21.2 per cent less efficient than the claimed figures. So not only are PHEVs creating more emissions than official figures state, but that also means that the customer is spending far more money on fuel if they forget to plug the car in regularly, or simply cover journeys that exceed the car’s electric range. The discrepancy in the numbers above is so bad that the European Commission intends to revise how PHEV emissions are assessed from 2025 onwards. All of this shows that having a home charger is absolutely vital to get the most out of a PHEV. But if a home charger is readily available, then why not just get a fully electric car instead? And if home charging isn’t possible, then regular internal combustion-engined cars (and even mild and full hybrids) are much cheaper than PHEVs to buy up front, and it’s unlikely you’ll be able to recoup the difference in cost in fuel savings any time soon. I also want to make it clear that I’m not bashing mild and full hybrids here; they use far smaller and lighter battery packs to achieve figures that aren’t far shy of PHEVs in the real world. Of course there are one or two very special plug-in hybrid exceptions. The new Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid is stunningly efficient even when its battery charge has run its course. On the whole, I hope that those in power will soon see most PHEVs for the worst-of-both-worlds compromise that they are and remove any incentives as soon as possible. If they really saw sense, I’d like to see governments incentivise only small EVs and, to a lesser extent, compact petrol cars. But I fear that amount of common sense is wishful thinking. +++
+++ “Unity is strength’: a phrase that has become so dear to car manufacturers that some have decided to take it literally. In fact, a POOL on CO2 emissions against EU fines has been created. It was founded by Stellantis, Toyota, Ford, Subaru and Mazda, who joined Tesla in the agreement, which is a key step to meet the strict targets that will come into force at the beginning of 2025 and avoid sanctions. The alliance is led by Tesla, which will act as manager of the ‘pool’. The declaration of intent signed by the various car manufacturers participating in the new emissions ‘pool’ was published on 6 January by the European Commission and confirms the key role of the US manufacturer. But what does this mean exactly? In terms of the new regulations to be met, the ultimate goal of the Alliance is to bring all participating companies into compliance with the new European regulations, which require a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 15% by 2025 compared to 2021-2024 (from 115.1g CO2/km to 93.6g CO2/km). This means that manufacturers will have to ensure that at least 20% of their sales will be 100% electric cars: a very ambitious result at present, considering that the European zero-emission car market is currently stagnant, with 2024 closing with a 14% share of total sales on the entire continent. The reasons for creating a new electric car alliance with a very experienced leader – Tesla – are clear: failure to meet the targets we have just discussed would result in significant fines for individual manufacturers, at €95 per gram of CO2 over the limit for each car sold, with total fines that ACEA estimates could exceed €15 billion. Considering that Tesla only sells zero-emission cars and that the pool allows manufacturers to count emissions cumulatively, the final balance should fall below the 93.6 g CO2/km threshold. This is not the first time that a number of manufacturers have joined forces to form an anti-penalty ‘pool’ as something similar happened in 2020-2021. This strategy is motivated by the fact that the sale of an electric vehicle can currently only offset the emissions of 3 or 4 conventional cars, making pools a crucial tool for avoiding penalties. The new Tesla-led Alliance, in particular, represents the first major agreement for 2025 and, according to the European Commission, will remain ‘open’ to accept new members until 5 February. +++
+++ ROLLS-ROYCE will invest about 350 million euro in an extension of its Goodwood factory in West Sussex, which will prepare it to ramp up its highly profitable customisation programmes and launch more electric models; the second of which will arrive this year. The largest investment in the firm’s UK headquarters since it opened 22 years ago is described as “the next step in the company’s commitment to creating value for clients by handcrafting the most complex, personal and valuable luxury goods while creating an unparalleled client experience”. Primarily, it will enable the firm to offer more personalisation options for each car it builds. Rolls-Royce offers 2 levels of personalisation: Bespoke, which allows buyers of the Spectre, Phantom, Ghost and Cullinan almost total free reign over the colours and materials used throughout their car; and Coachbuild, which creates unique and ultra-exclusive standalone models like the Sweptail, Boat Tail and Droptail. The company hailed 2024 as a record year for its customisation offerings, claiming that the value of Bespoke content in each car increased by 10% year on year. The long-wheelbase Phantom Extended was the most extensively customised car last year, with the Spectre EV in second. Buyers from the Middle East added the most Bespoke content to their cars. Rolls-Royce is now adapting its factory to suit growing demand for Bespoke offerings, although it doesn’t aim to increase production beyond today’s daily output. The CEO, Chris Brownridge, told: “Now we’re making 26 cars a day, so the current facility is at capacity. What we’re not trying to do with this extension is create more capacity for volume, because this is more about space for the projects that we’re seeing growing demand for: more bespoke and more coachbuilt cars, and these projects need space because they take time”. The investment will also go towards preparing Goodwood for increased production of EVs, Rolls-Royce said, without giving any more details on exactly what this work entails. Brownridge, though, confirmed that “there will be another electric Rolls-Royce later this year”, confirming that the Spectre will soon be joined on the Goodwood production line by another EV. He offered no further details on what this new model will look like, nor when it will be revealed, but said the firm has been encouraged by reaction to the Spectre. “What we’ve seen is that it delivers a remarkable Rolls-Royce experience in the silent drive, the waftability, the ease of driving. Feedback from our clients has been overwhelmingly positive about it, and so what that has told us very clearly is that as the world moves to electrification, we can make remarkable Rolls-Royces”. Rolls-Royce has previously outlined a plan to phase out combustion models by 2030, and Brownridge says the company can stick to that goal even as other car manufacturers slow their transition plans in light of waning demand for EVs. “Trends which affect the auto sector don’t necessarily inform demand for Rolls-Royce”, he said, touting the Goodwood firm as primarily a purveyor of luxury goods rather than a pure automotive outfit. “The plans that we’ve got make complete sense to our clients, and to us”, he added. Importantly, Brownridge said, there remains no plan to use hybrid powertrains as a transitional technology from combustion engines to pure-EV power, as Aston Martin and Bentley are doing, for example. “In terms of alternative drivetrains, Rolls-Royce has a mantra, which is to strive for perfection. What we won’t do is compromise. So today, the Spectre delivers a remarkable driving experience, as do our V12 cars. We won’t offer anything in between”. +++
+++ 6 months after reaching power, Keir Starmer’s Labour government has decided to reverse the previous administration’s decision to extend the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars until 2035, meaning no new combustio-engine cars will be allowed to be sold in the UNITED KINGDOM after 2030. Heidi Alexander, who recently replaced Louise Haigh as Transport Secretary, said in a statement that “the need to transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels has never been clearer, and the transition to zero emission vehicles will play a critical role in quickly reducing carbon emissions and improving our energy security”. Wind the clock back to September 2023, then-Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, chose to push back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to avoid households being faced with what he described as “unacceptable costs”. Such a decision caused ructions within the car industry and has long been something that Labour said it would reverse. Now, the government has launched a consultation to “consider stakeholders’ preferences on technology choices and the types of vehicles permitted between 2030 and 2035 alongside ZEVs”. Up until this point, the general consensus has been that the only petrol or diesel-powered vehicles that were expected to be allowed past the 2030 deadline were those with what were described as having a “significant electric range”, like plug-in hybrids. However, the government’s decision to launch a consultation clouds things even further. The owner of Vauxhall, Stellantis, has long been critical of the UK’s approach to the EV transition. However, the giant told that it welcomes the government’s latest move and that it’s planning to take part in the aforementioned consultation. This is the second automotive-related consultation the government has launched in recent months; late last year, Labour announced it would launch talks with the industry concerning controversial ZEV mandates which require manufacturers ensure a certain percentage of sales are of electric cars, lest they receive a hefty fine. The ZEV mandate has already taken its toll on UK manufacturing, with Stellantis pledging to close its historic Luton plant and Ford deciding to cut as many as 800 jobs over the next 3 years. A Ford spokesperson told that the firm “welcomes clarity from the government on the 2030 ICE vehicle deadline”, but warned that the EV market “urgently needs support and stimulation to meet these ambitious goals”. The Transport Secretary repeated the government’s urge to “grasp the opportunities of this ambitious and transformative shift”, stating that this latest consultation is designed to understand “what steps can be taken to support domestic manufacturing and cement the UK’s position as one of the major European markets for ZEVs”. +++
+++ The future of VOLKSWAGEN depends on the ID.2. This is said by Martin Sander, head of sales for the brand, who explained in no uncertain terms: ‘For the transition to be successful, we must have more affordable electric cars. The current times, as you know, is not easy. Volkswagen is coming to terms with a major reorganisation plan that will lead to the cutting of thousands of workers and, looking at the sales figures for electric cars in Europe, some models have performed worse than expected. However, in the face of a landscape that remains complicated, there are also hopeful signs, and the ID.2 could be the right car at the right time. The strategy is starting to work
In an interview, Martin Sander said that, with the data in hand, the green transition is gaining ground. Sander says that even the ID.7 is doing better than the Passat in some markets, such as Germany, and that overall the numbers are growing. “The ID.2 will disrupt the market”, he explained, “Our electric plan is starting to work. We have worked hard to ensure that all models in the ID family are at a very high level, both in terms of quality and performance. These efforts are starting to pay off. In Germany we are the market leader, ahead even of Tesla. In October we also overtook the American manufacturer in Norway. These are tangible examples that the strategy is paying off. However, not everything is rosy. The new emission limits are forcing manufacturers to accelerate sales of electric and plug-in cars. Volkswagen has a wide range, but the road ahead is tough for everyone. In addition to the CO2 challenge, there is also work to be done on profitability. ‘There are markets, segments and sales channels where we are profitable’, said Sander. ‘We are doing everything to grow them. But not all electric business is in the positive. Our ambition is to increase the profitability of all zero-emission vehicle businesses and to do better with them than we do with petrol cars. It takes commitment and investment to convince customers to switch to electric. “There is great interest from motorists for new technologies and electrified powertrains, but we have to accompany them to change their opinion for good”. And this is where the ID.2 comes in. Sander has no doubts: ‘The ID.2 will be a game changer. First of all because it is a small car and will fit into the segment that does the most volume in Europe. Then because it will be priced below €27.500 in the Netherlands and, at this moment, it could be an affordable alternative to other models. The ID.2 will also be produced with new, more efficient methods, which will allow good margins. And good margins combined with good volumes is the ideal combination for any company, not just Volkswagen. The ID.2, in a way, represents the link between the current range of electric cars and the one that will arrive by the end of the decade. The one, in short, that will be born from the Trinity project and will exploit the new SSP platform. The electric Golf will also come from there. +++