Data and analytics company GlobalData has released data showing that Western Europe’s car market was up 3.7 per cent year-on-year in August and the annual selling rate was also up versus July.
GlobalData says that the combined sales of new vehicles in Southeast Asia’s six largest markets (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore) are estimated to have declined by 28.5 per cent to 2,468,613 units in 2020.
Ford posted better-than-expected figures for the third quarter, recording a net income of $2.4 billion. However, David Leggett, Automotive Analyst at GlobalData, suggested that the company could be facing tough times ahead. Says Leggett: “Like several other carmakers, Ford is getting a boost from higher demand – especially in the US – after the pandemic-induced low points earlier this year. High margin trucks are selling very well and there are signs of a turnaround, too, in China which has been a disaster area for Ford in recent years.”
UK-EU negotiations for a post-Brexit trade deal resume for their seventh round in Brussels today (18 August). David Leggett, automotive analyst at data and analytics company GlobalData, stresses the importance of a trade deal to the UK’s automotive industry.
Following ACEA’s latest assessment that new car sales in the European Union will fall by 25 per cent in 2020, GlobalData’s automotive analyst David Leggett, says: “In May, the European passenger car market (EU+EFTA+UK) suffered another sharp drop, with new registrations falling by 57.2 per cent on last year.
Hyundai Motor Group has announced a rise of nearly 58 per cent rise in global electric vehicles sales in the first five months of 2020. The Korean car maker has sold 40,182 units in the period. David Leggett, automotive analyst at GlobalData, says: “Hyundai’s success reflects strong demand in Europe for recently-launched electric vehicles such as the Hyundai Kona Electric and Ioniq as well as Kia Niro and the Soul EV.
Even as automotive manufacturers tentatively restart production lines after the COVID-19 crisis disruptions, the global automotive industry faces a hit to the market that will be greater than in the 2007/8 financial crisis, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Volkswagen’s (VW) main Wolfsburg plant in Germany has restarted vehicle production after a period of shutdown due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. David Leggett, automotive analyst at GlobalData, said the move is a “welcome sign of a corner being turned in Germany,” but that the low level of production is indicative of the difficulties facing the sector in emerging from shutdowns.
China’s vehicle market was down 43 per cent in March, at 1.43 million units. David Leggett, automotive editor at GlobalData, said that April “will be key to seeing how the recovery to demand is shaping up and also how robust it is.”
As the Chinese Government announces it will maintain subsidies for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, an indication that it will support the industry in recovery, David Leggett, automotive analyst at GlobalData, says “all eyes will be on China, being the first country hit by the crisis and the first to attempt to navigate a way out.”
On the first press day of the cancelled Geneva Motor Show, the organisers are promoting a ‘virtual press day’ made up of livestreamed carmaker presentations instead of what would have happened at the physical show venue today.
UK car production fell -14.2 per cent in 2019, to 1,303,135 units, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), with a -6.4 per cent drop in December rounding off a third year of decline. Output was affected by multiple factors, including weakened consumer and business confidence at home, slower demand in key overseas markets, a number of significant model production changes and a shift from diesel across Europe. Factory shutdowns in the spring and autumn, timed to mitigate expected disruption arising from the anticipated departure of the UK from the EU on 29 March and 31 October, also had a marked effect.
Following the new and tighter EU CO2 emissions rules for cars sold in Europe coming into effect in 2020, David Leggett, automotive editor at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, said that the European industry will find 2020 “another hugely competitive year”, with increased complexity, due to car-makers factoring in “push and pull for models according to new EU CO2 fleet average rules.” Leggett continues, “They will be attempting to keep exposure to potentially very hefty fines as low as possible.”
Ford’s introduction of an electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) in 2020 is “a bold move” according to David Leggett, automotive editor at data and analytics company GlobalData. “The idea is to promote the traditional Mustang brand’s strengths of performance and flair for a vehicle that will be fun and exciting, rather than merely created to help meet future compliance standards. The Mach-EE is no econobox.
Following the release of Nissan’s financial results (12 November 2019), where the company has reported quarterly operating profits are down 70 per cent on last year, David Leggett, automotive editor at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view: “The latest set of results from Nissan underlines the scale of the recovery challenge ahead for Nissan’s newly shaken-up management team. The company is clearly struggling to get back on track a year after the arrest of ex-chairman Carlos Ghosn on financial misconduct charges.
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