All posts tagged european car market
European Union to ban fuel cars by 2050
A radical EU transport proposal includes the aim of banning all petrol and diesel-powered cars by 2050. The plan is to have European city centres free of fossil fuel vehicles and reduce oil dependence by up to 60 percent. The plan includes interim objectives regarding overall transport and road safety issues, including halving fuel traffic in urban centres by 2030 and halving road casualties by 2020.
We doubt the measures will ever be passed, but imagine that they are exaggerated so that when modified, they still mean something. With electric and hybrid technology at our fingertips, maybe something completely over the top is required to start the revolution needed. The European car market would certainly never be the same again.
The plan includes a large slice of measures which take account of public transport, including using mass forms of transport for trips less than 190 miles, and an ambitious integrated European travel network which links all major airports with railway lines. It’s called the ‘Single European Transport Area’ and makes a whole lot of sense to us (as it will to anyone who has made their way from Milan Malpensa to the city’s Central Station).
Cadillac back to Europe in premium segment
Cadillac is coming back to Europe in the premium segment with two new models and a new design language. The move marks the third time in 15 years that Cadillac has tried its luck in the premium European car market. General Motors chief Dan Akerson says: “The only thing you can do is try, try and try again with Cadillac in Europe.”
We’ll be interested to see if Cadillac looks to the Lancia-Chrysler move for any inspiration or mistakes to learn from as it tries a softer styling it hopes will appeal to European customers. The new Cadillac XTS saloon concept had a European preview at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, and its an example of the new styling direction that Cadillac will pursue, particularly for the old continent.
The XTS would be part of a three-car line-up, sitting above the CTS (rival to the 5 Series in terms of size) and a smaller sedan model. From an offering and design point of view, it makes sense, but the only real challenge for Cadillac is in not providing a diesel engine in Europe.
It is almost universally acknowledged that a diesel powertrain is essential to a product’s success in Europe. Opel Vauxhall powertrain head, Jeff Lux says: “We can’t do everything all at once.” What’s more, Cadillac is up against some extremely stiff competition with Akerson saying that the success of European luxury car brands “makes it very tough”.
Source | Autocar
No Daimler AG deal for Fiat industrial
According to Italian media reports, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has denied any rumours that Fiat Industrial would be interested in a deal with Daimler AG for its industrial vehicles. Marchionne has said simply that no negotiations are taking place.
“Let’s stop with the rumours. We’re not interested and we’ve already said so,” said the Italian manager in a statement which echoes the same words of Daimler head Dieter Zetsche, a month ago. Marchionne also commented on questions about the disappointing performance of Fiat Group on the European market, saying: “We have to wait for April, and I say that every month.”
Mercedes lean-burn fuel technology only for Europe
Mercedes will be using new “lean-burn” fuel technology on some of its engine models, but it will appear mostly in Europe due to differences in fuel composition around the world. The technology improves fuel consumption and emissions by requiring a reduced fuel-to-air ratio, but has low tolerance for higher sulphur levels.
Apparently high sulphur levels clog the nitrogen-oxide traps that the new engines use and US fuel composition has about twice the amount of sulphur that these engines can take. Africa and Asia also use a “dirtier” fuel so the new technology will appear on models destined for the European market only.
The first engine to use the technology will be the direct-injected 3.5-litre V6 with 306 hp which equips the Mercedes C-Class C350 sport sedan and the updated SLK just released.
Source | Autoblog.com
European fuel prices and the Chevrolet Volt: the bus is looking good
Recently in Europe, diesel and petrol prices for our two family vehicles cost me respectively €1.413 and €1.526 a litre. So in considering a future family car, anything with low fuel consumption and possibly even a hybrid model would be more than welcome. If only we could afford it.
The Opel Ampera was set to be Europe’s version of the Chevrolet Volt, but now we’ll get both of them on the market and both for what is, frankly, a price most customers wouldn’t (or couldn’t) afford. The Opel Ampera will cost €950 less than the Chevrolet Volt at €41,000 euros. The Volt comes in at €41,950.
The choice to bring the Chevrolet Volt to Europe at that price appears even more bizarre when you consider that the Opel Ampera was already set to be available on the European car market. We can’t see either of these models driving out of showrooms in large numbers, despite the crisis in European fuel prices right now.
Lancia Thema official video
It’s not an easy task to evaluate the Lancia Thema for a European audience, let alone traditional Lancia fans who aren’t very impressed with the American design masquerading as a Lancia. The “new” Thema is just one of the borrowed Chrysler models that now comprise the updated Lancia range.
So far the verdict from the pundits seems to be that the Thema won’t be a great success for Lancia - it hasn’t been Lancia-ised enough to appeal to the traditional Lancia public, nor to the broader European car market. The model keeps the 3.6-litre V6 Pentastar engine with 292 hp and eight-speed automatic transmission, and gets a new three-litre V6 diesel with 190 or 224 hp and a five-speed automatic transmission..
Unless customers were already interested in the Chrysler option, it might be difficult for Lancia to place its new Thema model and we imagine it won’t exactly be economic. It’s not the model in itself as clearly it’s a quality car with some good attributes - it’s just that whether it works in Europe with a Lancia badge might prove to be difficult.
Mini Countryman Italy's upmarket Fiat Panda?
The Mini Countryman was out to seek new buyers and it certainly got a few in Italy, of all countries. The Italian market can boast the biggest sales figures in Europe so far for the Countryman and we’ve seen a few on the streets, already. The news came as a surprise at first until we realised that Italy was probably far more prepared for a compact SUV of this dimension than other markets, having had a long love affair with its own Fiat Panda.
While the Fiat Panda is not strictly to be classified as a compact SUV, and will never match the Mini for style (or price for that matter), the vehicle has optional all-wheel drive, an upright sitting position, space for four people and a compact boot. In fact, the model has been a big seller in Italy for a long time and you’d be hard placed to drive through any Italian town and not see at least five of these in your first ten minutes in town.
In Italy the Mini Countryman has sold over 3,800 units and the brand saw a sales increase in January of 15.4 percent. The most sold version, unsurprisingly, is the Cooper ALL4 model which makes up about 40 percent of all sales. More success is likely as the 2.0-litre diesel with 143 hp hits the market in March. Could we start to see more of these on little Italian mountain roads? Possibly, but they won’t be so easy to overtake as the Fiat Panda.
Source | Autoblog.it
Fiat Freemont interior revealed
The Fiat Freemont - the Fiat-badged Dodge Journey for the European market - will be presented at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and these preview pics show the Freemont interior. The new model is exactly what they say it is - a rebadged Journey, and so there are plenty of points in common. It marks the first Fiat-badged Chrysler model to market since the Fiat-Chrysler deal and could prove to be a hefty competitor in the large MPV segment.
Also described as an SUV/crossover, the Fiat Freemont is an over-sized model and biggest passenger vehicle for the brand. It measures 4.89 metres long, 1.88 wide and 1.72 high, with a wheel base of 2.89 metres and a boot capacity of 1,461 litres. At launch time it will be available in just versions: a 2.0-litre Multijet with 140 or 170 hp and manual transmission. Following this first model, all-wheel drive will be introduced, as will the V6 Pentastar engine with 276 hp. We expect to see a few Italian families heading to the seaside in the Freemont this coming summer, when it will be available in Europe.
Daytime driving lights compulsory in Europe
All new cars sold in Europe will now have to be fitted with daytime driving lights according to a new law passed yesterday. The law is aimed at making sure all new vehicles are equipped with daytime running lights and that drivers use them under all conditions, including standard daytime driving, in order to increase visibility and safety on European roads.
Most car manufacturers have already prepared themselves for such a move, with the majority of cars now available with LED lights as standard. While often used as a distinctive design feature of a car, it will now be compulsory to have them, meaning we’ll all be trendy in the future. Starting in August 2012, daytime running lights will also be compulsory for heavy vehicles and next generation buses.
The move refers strictly to new vehicles already equipped with LED or daytime running lamps. Anyone who tries to install after market LED lights will be penalised which means you won’t be popping off to your tuner to whack anything on the front of your car. With the European law coming into effect yesterday, we assume that means any car purchased from that date, although we have no statements regarding cars that might be on showroom floors without LEDs.
Volkswagen behind Toyota and Renault-Nissan in 2010
Volkswagen wants to be the world’s biggest automaker in the near future, but it will now have to count a new competitor in the mix. The battle for the biggest car manufacturer title looked it would be Toyota vs Volkswagen. But closing 2010 worldwide car sales, the Renault-Nissan group managed to overtake Volkswagen. The French-Japanese alliance jointly sold 7,276,398 vehicles in 2010, up 19.6 percent from 2009. The German group tallied 7.14 million (excluding Scania).
The main car market for the big players is still China, and the division between Renault and Nissan sales is in favour of Nissan, with the Lada brand an up and coming presence, increasing by 37.6 percent. China bought 1.038 million vehicles, mostly Nissan, with the local French market providing just 744,549 sales. We gather Toyota still sits at the top of the car manufacturers list, but we’ve currently got no data to that effect. In any case, it proves that Nissan has been a very good choice of bed fellow for Renault.
Daihatsu to exit European car market
According to reports, Toyota budget brand subsidiary, Daihatsu, will be leaving the European car market. The news doesn’t greatly surprise us as Asian car brands generally have a greater challenge to face in Europe, particularly for cheaper, utility brands. While Autoblog states that the world’s car industry giants can be divided into Toyota and General Motors, here in Europe we would add the Volkswagen Group as well, meaning competition for brands like Daihatsu can be very stiff.
If the move actually happens, it would mark another market exit for the brand after Daihatsu left the North American scene in 1992, and Australia in 2006. While Toyota can hold its own in Europe, extremely popular models like the new Suzuki Swift prove just how much Daihatsu can’t compete, despite a respectable price-quality offering. The problem for Asian car brands in Europe has often been that the price is not low enough to match perceptions over brand image (and in the case of Daihatsu it imports all models from Japan with the high costs relative to that), and with brands like Dacia stepping in to take on the budget mantle, it makes a lot of sense for Daihatsu to pull out.
Think City four-seater electric city car for Europe
Now this is what we call a clever city car - the Think City four-seater electric vehicle from Norway will soon be available across the European car market, as we go ever greener here. Smart may have pioneered the intelligent city car sector but there have been plenty of improvements from other quarters in the meantime and this is one of them.
The Think City was originally a two-seater model, but it has expanded to four seats. Although the three point seatbelts in the back mean that you lose boot space, the rear seat can be folded down to create a boot space equal to that of the two-seater model. It sounds more versatile than most electric city cars on the market, which are limited even in their urban use by their limited size for carrying things other than passengers.
The Think City is driven by lithium ion batteries with a range of 160 to 180 km. Top speed is 105 km/hr. The company offers the vehicle with a five-year or 100,000 km guarantee. Pricing for European availability hasn’t been announced yet.
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