Tag Archives: European market

News

Great Wall Motors is closing its European headquarters

At a time when many Chinese companies are trying to start car production on European soil, in order to avoid additional tariffs, it seems that one Chinese manufacturer is not recording good results. Great Wall Motors has announced that it is closing its headquarters in Germany and laying off all employees.

A few years ago, the company set a goal of selling one million cars outside of China between 2025 and 2030, but that goal was postponed. Great Wall Motors sold only 6,300 cars in the European market in 2023, which is a terrible result, considering that this is less than 2 percent of their total sales (316,018 cars).

However, this decision does not mean that Great Wall Motors will completely leave the European market, but will look for the best way to adapt to the current situation and customer needs. The Chinese company will honor all agreed deals in Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden, and management will be conducted directly from the headquarters in Baoding, China.

Great Wall Motors currently has the Ora 03 models and the Wey 03 and 05 SUVs in its offer. Also, the announced debut of the Ora 07 sedan, which was supposed to be premiered in the summer, could be delayed.

Source: Great Wall Motors

News

New car sales growth in Europe

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has published the latest data on new car sales in 28 European markets, which include the European Union, EFTA (European Free Trade Association) and Great Britain. The data show an increase in new car sales, but also an increase in new car registrations in Europe.

New car sales growth in Europe

According to ACEA, European buyers registered 1,080,913 new cars in April (+12%), of which 387,288 cars (35.8 percent) were with gasoline engines, 318,854 hybrids (29.5 percent), 144,656 electric (13, 4 percent), and 124,943 diesel drivers (11.6 percent). Compared to the data for April 2023, only diesel cars recorded a decrease (0.8%), while the registration of all other vehicle types increased (gasoline +4.6%, hybrid 29.1%, electric 14.4%). It should be noted that only diesels recorded a decrease (0.8%).

Also, the number of registered new cars in the first four months of 2024 increased by 6.5 percent compared to the same period in 2023. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 4,476,369 new cars were registered, and the highest demand was for gasoline cars (1,598,296 units). Slightly lower demand was for hybrids (1,329,181 units) with a growth of 21.8 percent, electric cars (593,325 units) with a growth of 6 percent, while only 503,196 cars were diesel (-8.5%).

Volkswagen is still the leader both as a group (+14 percent) and as a brand. When it comes to brands, the biggest growth was achieved by Seat with 33,167 vehicles sold (+63.1), Volvo with 33,767 vehicles (+59 percent) and Honda with 5,887 vehicles (+49.6 percent).

Source: ACEA

News

Ford’s future in the European market is not good

The European market is increasingly becoming the main market for major car manufacturers, but it seems that one of them is slowly losing the battle with the competition. According to experts, the shutdown of Focus next year, one of the two remaining essential models, could put Ford’s future in serious trouble and an even lower position on the European market, where it currently records a drop in sales of 17.5 percent.

For years, driven by bad estimates from market analysts, Ford has been trying to become a fully electric brand, but without success. Guided by the European Union’s decision on the new Euro 7, Ford, unlike most others, too quickly decided to stop the production of some models (Galaxy, S-Maxa, Mondeo, C-Max and Fiesta). However, since the European Union decided to delay the entry into force of the new Euro 7, a large number of manufacturers were forced to change their strategy, but Ford did it too soon.

Next year, Focus will go into the past, and that is what worries experts the most. Of the conventional vehicles, in which the market currently has great interest, only Kuga and Puma remain. This is not enough for a large manufacturer, such as Ford, to stand up to increasingly strong competition. Thus, for the next year, the offer will include only a few models with an internal combustion engine (Puma, Kuga, Bronco, Mustang and Tourneo) and the new EcoSport version, while the electric offer will include the Mustang Mach-E and Explorer Electric, and from 2025, electric Puma and Capri versions. When it comes to plug-in hybrids, apart from the Kuga PHEV, which manages to keep up with the competition, Ford has no other model on offer.

Many believe that Ford should consider postponing the withdrawal of the Focus model, at least for some time, until the American company finds a better solution and stabilizes its position on the European market.