All posts tagged european car market
No diesel means no Lancia Flavia sedan for Europe
When you read that about half of all vehicles sold on the European car market are diesels you understand just what it means to launch something like a sedan model without a diesel variant on the old continent - like shooting yourself in the foot. So for this reason, according to Automotive News, the Lancia-Chrysler partnership has decided to leave the Chrysler 200 in the US and bring only the convertible model to Europe as the Lancia Flavia cabriolet.
The news builds on recent reports that the Lancia Flavia project had been postponed indefinitely - or at least until the 2013 model rolled around with some added European design input. According to the ANE report, it was too expensive to develop and fit a diesel engine in the Chrysler 200. So why does the cabrio get to travel when its hardtop sister doesn’t?
The answer to that is that the Lancia Flavia cabriolet should be good looking enough to still attract customers, according to Fiat insiders. Like the difference between a sister who wears a turtle neck and the sister who goes for cleavage instead… forget the diesel, it’s all about tops off and summer motoring.
Does Europe want the Chevrolet Malibu?
The European Chevrolet range will get the Malibu for the first time as the model debuts at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show next month. It will be the first time the Chevrolet Malibu appears on European shores and it will arrive with two engines, a petrol and a diesel.
The petrol engine produces 164 hp and the diesel 169 hp, but other details are scarce at the moment. The North American Chevrolet Malibu will go into production in January and should debut in the first part of 2012, for the European car market we’ll see it at Frankfurt but there is no indication about production or sales on that continent yet.
Notwithstanding the more than respectable sedan, we’re a bit dubious over the European appetite for the Malibu, given the competition in sedans over here - but then again, you never know. If we had to tote the European flag though, we wouldn’t mind some more investment in Opel and a whopping Opel Insignia to get excited about, rather than the Malibu.
Source | WCF
No more Chrysler 200 for Lancia?
The 2011 Geneva Motor Show featured the new Fiat-Chrysler deal strutting its stuff as the Lancia brand got a much-needed refresh in the form of a few rebadged Chryslers. Providing some new models in the range is essential to hauling Lancia out of a one-car line-up with the Ypsilon and into the real luxury market it presumes to occupy.
New reports from LeftLaneNews indicate though, that the Chrysler 200 - to be rebadged as the Lancia Flavia - may not make it to production under the Italian brand. It was launched strictly as a concept and its heritage with the Chrysler Sebring, an unpopular model in Europe, means the project may never see the light of day.
While the Lancia Them (Chrysler 300C) and the Grand Voyager will take on the task of bring Lancia into the large, luxury segment, the smaller Flavia in both sedan and cabriolet form now looks to be delayed. If the redesigned 2013 Chrysler 200 turns out to be a good model, the Flavia nameplate revival could occur with that future model.
The future Chrysler 200 will be based on the C-Evo platform and will get some European design input to make it more appealing on that market. With the current Flavia concept labelled as unprofitable, it will be a couple of years yet before Lancia gets its mid-size sedan which it’s going to need for any real credibility on the European car market.
Chrysler to revive Dodge Magnum station wagon?
The Dodge Magnum is perhaps the only US station wagon to have had some success and it killed off when Chrysler hit financial dire straits. Still, according to Automotive News, the Magnum could see a revival as a US born and bred station wagon. To us it seems like an unusual choice in the new Fiat-Chrysler deal and the very American style probably wouldn’t be a hit with European customers.
Still, after the Dodge Journey brought the only MPV to the Fiat line-up, maybe a dash of European flair could give Fiat a new station wagon, too - like a kind of longer Fiat Sedici. And the estate variant is definitely one that goes well on the European car market. None of this is certain, of course, but if the Dodge Magnum were to be revived, is it so unreasonable to think that we could get a European version off the same platform, giving another boost to the Fiat line-up?
Nissan Qashqai design in UK
After announcements that the UK would have a large slice of Nissan Leaf construction, the new Qashqai will also be built and even designed in Britain. Nissan has a style centre in Paddington which will be responsible for the European design of the future Qashqai, and the rest of the development will take place at Nissan’s European technical centre in Bedfordshire.
Production will then take place at Sunderland facilities where Note and Juke models are also built, although the Qashqai has so far been the most popular model. It’s good news for the UK car production industry and shows that Japanese car manufacturers are still happy to design and build in Europe.
Source | Autocar
Opel to get Buick Enclave and LaCrosse
According to reports from the US, Opel could soon get a couple of rebadged Buick models on the European car market. After General Motors moved the Opel Insignia and Astra to the Buick line-up as the Regal and Verano models, it will try things the other way, too.
The Opel range could soon make room for the Buick Enclave and LaCrosse models, as GM increases production on minimal investment, and the models could be manufactured in the US or China to further cost savings. In terms of size, the models would be larger than the current Opel Zafira - the biggest model in the Opel lineup and the second MPV it offers after the more compact Meriva.
There could be room for the crossover characteristics of the Enclave, but we’re not sure whether Opel needs to carry a second sedan (the LaCrosse) after its own Insignia. They’re both quite good looking cars, but as Autoblog points out, some further styling work would need to be done for Europe, and a strong offering in the engine line-up, especially with diesel variants would be needed. Details are sketchy, so we can’t say if all this will be happening at some stage in the near future.
Source | GMInsideNews
Audi vs BMW and Mercedes in Germany
Yesterday we mentioned how Audi has stormed ahead on the Chinese car market with its A6L sedan and it seems its status as a luxury car brand is doing well elsewhere too - almost surprisingly in Germany itself. The home turf war between Audi, BMW and Mercedes would surely be harder fought that anywhere else in the world, with local loyalties and prejudices held more tenaciously.
But according to Car and Driver, Audi has the best image in Germany compared to the market perception of BMW and Mercedes. Jens Meiners says:
Good news for Audi in the luxury segment: last month’s sales figures for Germany are out, and the A8 surpassed both the Mercedes-Benz S-class and the still-fresh BMW 7-series. This tells you something about the A8′s excellent image here [in Germany]. On common German home turf, Audi is entirely on par with Mercedes and BMW. In fact, one could argue that it has achieved the most comfortable position. Audi quite simply stands for superior innovation and design. Mercedes-Benz, by contrast, seems to go after every niche and struggles to recast itself as a sportier, more youthful brand; BMW tries to shift its focus from aggressive sportiness to “sustainability.”
We’ve always been skeptical about Mercedes-Benz’ push to become “younger”. That might seem cynical of us seeing as we’re still on the youthful side of 40, but really I’ve come to appreciate recently that Mercedes does luxury sedans like no other. They’re just not for me. And we love BMW sportiness, but the whole new ‘i’ thing just doesn’t do it for us.
So could Audi become the world’s next number one luxury German brand? They’re certainly counting on it and a model like the A8 does well across the board. If the Audi A9 coupe makes production,we’ll be very interested to see how it’s received.
Electric cars in Amsterdam get free parking space
This is what we call bringing electric cars to the masses. In a city like Amsterdam, which has virtually no parking whatsoever in the town centre, residents buying an electric car get a free parking space and a recharge station to go with it. The European car initiative started back in 2009 but has really gained ground only recently, having reached its target of 200 recharge stations by 2012, a year earlier than expected.
In the future the plan will probably provide some logistical problems as the city finds extra space for these free spots (near where the resident who bought the electric car lives), but the plan is to add another 1,000 recharge spaces in the next few years. By 2015, Amsterdam city wants five percent of its cars to be electric, which would be a total figure of about 10,000 vehicles.
The free parking initiative runs through 2012 and could be extended if the success continues. It’s a significant investment for the city which is spending €5 million on recharge stations and another €3 million on assisting companies build up fleets of electric vehicles. The initiative was part of the attractiveness of Amsterdam for Nissan, who chose the city as its official launch location for the Leaf on the European car market.
Continue reading: Electric cars in Amsterdam get free parking space
Porsche Panamera Diesel official details
The Porsche Panamera Diesel should prove to be an important addition to the range for the Panamera fortunes on the European car market. Autoblog might well ask “what the world has come to” with a diesel Porsche sedan now available in the modern era, but after the Cayenne comes in diesel, it’s almost essential that the Panamera does, too.
What’s more, Porsche can easily tap into some diesel technology without having to invest on its own. The Panamera diesel is equipped with the Volkswagen 3.0-litre turbodiesel unit with 250 hp and an impressive 550 Nm of torque. The more technical details, from Porsche itself, are:
piezo valves at a pressure of 2000 bar, turbocharging employing electrically controlled variable geometry turbochargers (VGTs) and emission control achieved by controlled exhaust gas recirculation, oxidation catalyst and particle filter
In any case, Porsche diesel technology was going to have to be good and the Panamera oil-burner gets to 100 km/hr in 6.8 seconds. It has an eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic shift and does 100 km on 6.5 litres of fuel. CO2 emissions are down to 172 g/km. Porsche claims a range of nearly 1,200 km for the Panamera on one tank of diesel. German pricing is 80,183 euros with deliveries starting in August.
Chinese to buy Saab?
That Saab is in serious financial difficulty even under its new ownership of Spyker isn’t news to anyone, and neither are we surprised by reports that a Chinese car company could consider a Saab purchase. Despite news that Volvo was denying any negotiations over a Saab acquisition, we wouldn’t be surprised if Geely was interested in expanding its European car portfolio.
At the moment though there has been no company named as such, with Auto, Motor und Sport simply stating that the Chinese could be part of various interested parties. After the Geely purchase of Volvo it would be another example of how the Chinese seem to know how to value European brands that have been neglected and facing bankruptcy under their European or North American owners.
Recently, Saab was looking for funds from the Swedish government while also seeking financing elsewhere but red tape issues with the EIB (European Investment Bank), winding up the General Motors ownership and getting the right approvals have taken time. The details of the “several interested parties” (Eric Geers) in investment are scarce at the moment so we can’t be sure if this would be an outright sale of Saab, or a joint-venture with new owner Spyker.
Whatever the case, if Saab is to survive, it needs funds and soon. With suppliers unpaid and production delays it’s clear that the company is seriously losing money and that new Saab sales are not anywhere near to generating the kind of break-even situation that’s required at the moment.
New Jeep Compass and Cherokee to boost European sales
The new Jeep Compass is being redesigned as a soft-road model aiming at increasing Jeep sales in Europe. The sales objective is about 125,000 units a year, starting from 2014 when the new Compass will go on sale. The model will use the same Fiat compact platform which will appear on the Alfa Giulia.
The Jeep Compass will have a long wheelbase and wide track platform, with four-wheel drive capability - modifications of the front-drive Giulietta platform. The new Alfa SUV will use the same base and both the Jeep and Italian model should compete in the premium SUV segment of the European car market against models like the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Land Rover Freelander.
The next generation Jeep Compass will replace both the current model and the Patriot. It will be revealed in 2013 for a market launch the following year and will have a two-litre diesel engine in the line-up meaning Jeep should be able to compete in Europe. The 125,000 sales figure is up from 15,000 Jeep models sold in Europe last year.
That is well above even Land Rover sales of 75,000 but Jeep says it “is a global brand with a new product range and an expanding dealer network”. Other models contributing to the ambitious plan include a facelifted Wrangler, new Cherokee and Grand Cherokee and the Grand Wagoneer. The models will be jointly sold through Lancia outlets.
Source | Autocar
Toyota and Nissan beat European cars to electric/hybrid race?
The European car market will be relying on hybrid and electric vehicles more in the future if reports about banning fuel-driven cars in Europe are to be believed. But at this stage, despite the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Japanese car manufacturers are still slowing making their mark in the electric sector.
After seeing the first Nissan Leaf deliveries in the UK, Japanese counterpart Toyota has announced a new partnership in Paris to help test its Toyota Prius hybrid models and the supporting electric recharging infrastructure. We don’t know what agreements a company like Renault might have, so we’re making a guess when we say that the Japanese company might have beaten the French in their own market.
Renault is heavily investing in its electric vehicles, with the Renault Fluence to be released later this year, and an electric Twingo to follow, possibly as early as 2014. With the Nissan Leaf winning the 2011 European Car of the Year award, and the Toyota Prius still the world’s original hybrid, the Japanese brands could well have a head start in the electric segment of the European car market if these kinds of infrastructure deals continue.
Source | WCF
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