With Geely Holdings' worldwide sales rising 20% in 2023 to 2.79 million vehicles, can the Hangzhou-based OEM surpass the 3 million mark in 2024? The huge Chinese company seems to be either creating or controlling more brands every year. The latest list runs alphabetically from Farizon (CVs and LCVs) to Geely & Geely Galaxy, LEVC, Lotus, Lynk & Co, Polestar, Proton, Radar, Smart, Volvo Cars and Zeekr. Just Auto's latest Future Models report examines some of the new and potential upcoming vehicles for several of these segments.
London chaos
The rise in keyless car thefts in London underscores the need for the car industry to address cyber security. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called on the car industry to tackle the growing theft risk of keyless vehicles, raising questions about how safe this new car technology is. In addition to thefts, concerns about cybersecurity across the industry raise the possibility of higher insurance premiums for consumers. Addressing the CEOs of prominent car brands, such as Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and Ford, after a 7.7% increase in the number of car thefts in London, Kahn said: “I urge you to move forward in striving to eliminate the phenomenon of car theft.” Vulnerabilities associated with keyless vehicles and setting higher industry standards for vehicle safety. Data from Met Police, reported by Evening standardIt showed that 60-65% of the 33,000 cars stolen last year were keyless car thefts.
Battery technology 101
Over the past decade, the battery industry has advanced enough to enable portable consumer electronics, mobile Internet, the first electric vehicles, and the initial adoption of intermittent renewable energy storage and generation. Given the accelerating and expanding role that stored energy plays in tackling climate change, it will become one of the world's most important industries over the next ten years. This is GlobalData's guide to competing electric powertrain technologies.
Global Low Voltage Sales
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By GlobalData
GlobalData's latest analysis of the global light vehicle (LV) market shows that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for January slowed to 82 million units annually (compared to 90 million units annually in December 2023). . About 6.7 million cars were sold last month (this is still up 6% year-over-year). (From this month on, we will exclude exports from China's total sales, where we previously included them. We have backdated this adjustment to 2018.) Major markets saw selling rates decline in January. In the United States, there were signs that prices were falling at a faster pace. In Europe, the picture was mixed as the rate of sales slowed in Western Europe while the rate improved in Eastern Europe. China's like-for-like selling rate was also weaker in the December-January period, although crude sales grew well, year-on-year.
Diesel arrives
According to GlobalData, January saw another month of low month-on-month variation in the share of new diesel vehicle sales in the region. The 2023 diesel share in the Western European automotive market was confirmed at 15.8% with 1.83 million units sold in the region, while the pan-European diesel share for this year, excluding CIS, was 16.0% with 2.21 million diesel vehicles sold. January saw another month of low month-on-month variation in the share of new vehicle sales in the region powered by diesel, but with the share slightly higher than achieved in December, at a provisional 15.5%, with a few secondary markets yet to announce Its reports are at the time of writing. . All markets lost diesel share in January on a year-over-year basis, but Germany saw diesel sales volume increase by 2.5 lakh units while several other markets also saw modest volume increases. France was the biggest loser in terms of volume, with diesel car sales in January falling by 3.5 thousand units from the previous year. The loss of government subsidies for electric cars in Germany over the past year has helped the diesel market there maintain a level of strength, which in turn has supported diesel car sales and shares in the region. The slowdown in battery electric vehicle growth late last year (which turned negative in December, though positive again in January) was beneficial for internal combustion engine demand in general and certainly for diesel. Diesel's migration from mass market to premium brands has continued.
Electric vehicles slow down
Is the BEV market really as bad as some headlines suggest? Feedback from some GlobalData customers in the battery electric vehicle (BEV) component supply sector indicates that in recent months, parts volume orders often fail to live up to previously announced OEM expectations and, in some cases, production lines stop running . But is the BEV market really as bad as some headlines suggest? The European BEV passenger vehicle (PV) market grew last year by 32% with positive growth in all months except December, which was far from a very high base in December 2022. The growth achieved was better than many forecasters had indicated at the beginning of last year. (And better than in 2022), with some expecting growth to be flat. Battery electric vehicle sales were just under 2.1 million units, which is half a million more than were sold in 2022. Obviously there has been some recent slowdown in the market, but it depends on where you look. Some brands are doing much better than others, with the likes of MG and Tesla emerging as strong performers in 2023.
Cheap electric car
BYD has launched a new version of its Qin Plus DM-I, a PHEV, with a starting price of 79,800 yuan ($11,090), down 20% from its previous version. The announcement was made on Chinese social media platform Weibo, where the electric car maker noted that it is “officially opening a new era of oil-less electricity.” BYD is the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer and has been engaged in a price war with its main rival Tesla.
Startup stops
iPhi, the luxury battery electric vehicle (BEV) brand of Chinese technology company Human Horizons, has halted production as it struggles with stiff competition in the local market, according to local reports. The carmaker, which was founded in 2017, is understood to have suspended production at its Shanghai plant amid reports it was running out of cash, with some sources claiming it had failed to pay its January wage bill. Unconfirmed reports indicated that the company informed employees that it would halt production for six months starting immediately while management found a solution to the cash shortage.
The United States is reducing the use of electric vehicles
The United States is set to ease proposed annual requirements through the end of 2030 for its comprehensive plan to aggressively cut tailpipe emissions and boost electric vehicle sales, two Reuters sources said. The news agency noted that automakers and the United Auto Workers Union urged the Biden administration to slow down the proposed increase in electric vehicle sales because electric vehicle technology is still too expensive for many major American consumers and more time is needed to develop charging infrastructure. According to the report, the EPA in April 2023 proposed requiring a 56% reduction in new vehicle emissions by 2032. Under the EPA's initial proposal covering the period 2027-2032, automakers were expected to aim for electric vehicles to make up 60% of its new emissions. Vehicle production by 2030 and 67% by 2032 to meet more stringent emissions requirements.
The UK's second electric truck manufacturer
The Luton plant will become Stellantis' second plant in the UK to manufacture electric vehicles (the Ellesmere Port company is Combo Electric). Manufacture of an Opel/Vauxhall electric mid-size van – the Vivaro – alongside sister versions of Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat brands will begin at the Luton manufacturing facility from the first half of 2025. Stellantis says Luton is part of the shift to vehicle electrification All Stellantis sites that produce the vans Small in Europe.
have a nice weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, Just Auto
