Future models analysis again rang the bell at just-auto this week, as we put Tata Motors’ Land Rover under the microscope.
Due to higher sales in China, Land Rover saw an improvement in its worldwide performance during the 1 June to 30 September quarter. While fiscal 2019-2020 sales are still down by 4.6% (to 180,705 vehicles), the worst may now be in the past. The momentum of the new Evoque, a major facelift for the Discovery Sport and the addition of the Defender should all mean that calendar 2019 ends up being a strong one. With a lot more to come in 2020 and beyond.
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Ford, whose Q3 results this week made for grim reading, also came under scrutiny, starting with its cars and EVs, and followed quickly by SUVs and pickups.
“Beset by such a serious crash that Cadillac is only 1,800 units (wholesale) behind it, Ford has a massive problem in the world’s number one vehicle market. How to recover from delivering a mere 165,848 locally manufactured passenger vehicles for the year to the end of September, a decline of 47%? Happily, the blue oval’s position in the US couldn’t be more different to its situation in China.”
A new report from our parent company, GlobalData, attracted lots of interest this week.
“The current backlash against diesel, also known as ‘de-dieselisation’, has resulted in consumers regarding Euro 6 engines, that meet all the latest emission requirements, being considered as bad for air quality as a Euro II diesel. Additionally, some cities have introduced legislation to place restrictions on the use of diesel vehicles, while others are planning outright bans for diesel vehicles in the future.
“GlobalData’s report,De-dieselization – Thematic Research, reveals that there has been a stark fall in diesel demand in Europe since 2016. Europe’s big five markets (5EU) which account for some 80% of west European light vehicle sales, have seen diesel penetration fall from 50.5% in the passenger vehicle segment to 37.1% in 2018.”
Remember when sway-with-the-breeze politicians were extolling diesel’s lower CO2 emissions?
Calum MacRae, director of automotive product development at GlobalData, said: “The effect of this change has been deleterious for the industry. Fleet CO2 emissions tracked continuously downwards since 2000, but registered a marginal uptick in 2017 that became more pronounced in 2018.”
Diesel was a primary instrument for meeting European Commission (EC) rules for CO2 emissions in 2020/21 as they offer a relatively cost-effective means of improving fuel economy. Now, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are in a position where they have to rush electrified vehicles to market to ensure their fleet CO2 emissions are low enough to avoid punitive fines from the EC.
Jeep – the all-American SUV, huh? Not quite. Notwithstanding an early foray into China manufacture, Jeep was more recently contract-assembled for Europe in Austria though that has long ago ended. Next, Italian manufacture followed with the Renegade. Now we learn the next size up, Compass, is being added to Melfi build. FCA has begun testing the new Jeep Compass production line at the plant. The model, launched in 2016, was produced initially for Europe in Mexico but rising sales have made a business case to bring production to Italy, including a plug-in hybrid version. This is part of a EUR5bn investment plan FCA previously announced for Italy. The plant has already built 900,000 Renegade units since 2015. Manufacturing of the Compass will begin in the first quarter of next year, producing vehicles for sale in Europe, followed by PHEV variants of both Compass and Renegade.
Ford plans to spend more on self-driving vehicles than its original commitment of US$4bn to the end of 2023, Jim Farley, president, new business, technology and strategy, wrote in a blog post this week. “We… aren’t joining the race to see which company is spending the most, as that isn’t an indicator of doing things right. …We don’t believe spending is the measure that will be meaningful to our customers and the communities in which we will operate our self-driving services,” he said. His thoughts are well worth a read.
The Tokyo show has diminished in global importance but is nonetheless still an intriguing show. We have a full round-up of all the important new models launched.
Have a nice weekend.
