Europe

Just as the U.S. new vehicle market continues to fragment into dozens of segments and hundreds upon hundreds of models, the commercial van segment is splitting into two distinct categories, each with a wide range of models. Back in 2008, the commercial van customer had five models from which to choose, but by next year there will be 11 models on the market. Prior to 2009, there was one commercial van segment and it was perennially dominated by Ford's E-Series (Econoline and Club Wagon). In...

Since January, Mexico has been able to import American and Canadian vehicles that are Model Year (MY) 2007 or older. Up until December, the limit was MY04 or older and in 2009, it was MY99 or older. In 2019, any used vehicle can be imported from the U.S. and Canada, regardless of its age. This is not a new problem: in 2006 and 2007, Mexico imported more used vehicles then it sold new cars. Although the imports cooled down last year, they gained strength again earlier in 2013. There was an...

South America is a very diverse continent. Brazil, its main country, forbids diesel passenger cars and speaks Portuguese, but is surrounded by Spanish speaking countries. French Guiana still belongs to France, something not very common nowadays. Consumer behavior is also different: Toyota, for example, is the market leader in Peru and has a higher share in the countries closer to the Pacific Ocean, while customer loyalty in Brazil and Argentina goes toward brands from Europe and the United...Read...

The presence of Dan Akerson, General Motors' CEO, Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche, Takanobu Ito, Honda's CEO and President, and Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover's CEO, shows how international the 2012 Sao Paulo auto show has become. Brazil has always been a key market for many OEMs – for example, it is the second main market for Chevrolet and Renault – but it has been closed, with many products only offered in the country and in neighboring Argentina....

There is a lot of buzz about the Audi plant that will be built in San José Chiapa, Mexico. The press refers to it as "Audi's first car plant in the Americas," but this is not correct. Audi produced the A3 in São José dos Pinhais, Brazil between 1999 and 2006, in a factory now totally owned by Audi's parent company, Volkswagen. Golf (still in its fourth generation), Fox and SpaceFox are produced there. It was a joint venture between Audi and Volkswagen – Audi had 25% of the factory.The A3...

As the July sales numbers were released, Ford and GM made the headlines for their drop, while Chrysler still enjoys its momentum. But Ford’s challenges are not only in the U.S. – and I am not talking about Europe. In Brazil, where the market enjoyed a 22% growth in July, Ford sold 12% less light vehicles compared to June. Its monthly market share slumped to 8.44% from 9.90% in the previous month. Ford, the first OEM to be established in Brazil (1919), has always faced challenges in Latin... Read...

The Polk forecasting team is in a position to report good news as the North American assembly and sales volumes continue to improve year over year. This is the direct result of modest economic improvement and the satisfaction of pent-up demand. Polk anticipates North American assembly volumes will increase by 10% (14.4 M) in 2012, following a 10% increase in 2011 (13.1 M) and a 39% increase in 2010 (12M), following a dreadful fall to 8.6 million units in 2009. However, there is at least one...

Presenting challenges and opportunities to automotive suppliers There has been a great deal of media coverage regarding the growth in new vehicle demand in the BRIC countries, with much of that growth taking place in China. This is related to a growing Chinese middle class with growing net worth, which is creating a market of many first-time new vehicle buyers. However, there has been less attention provided to the rapidly growing light vehicle assembly volumes in China as automakers are...

The U.S. new vehicle industry continued to gain momentum as 2011 came to a close, with December deliveries up almost 9% from December 2010. For the entire year, dealers delivered 12,777,939 new cars and light trucks, up about 10% from 2011. The Polk Forecasting Practice expects the industry recovery to continue in 2012, with U.S. new vehicle deliveries climbing another 7% to 13.7 million units. Further growth in the industry will unfortunately be inhibited by the continued weakness in the...

As the Head of Diversity & Inclusion for Polk, my peers and I often discuss multicultural marketing, primarily focusing on the growing importance of effectively reaching the African American (AA), Asian (AS) and Hispanic (HS) ethnic groups with relevant, automotive-related messaging. In the process, the non-AA, AS & HS community is often referred to as the "General Market." After doing some research, I found the General Market to be as culturally rich and diverse as the aforementioned groups....R...

It's getting harder and harder to separate a tech company from a good old car company. Even though there is still a fair share of old-fashioned metal-bending in the automotive sector, there is also an ever-growing dose of high tech ideas including:Toyota Motor Europe and the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design are working on a concept project that allows a vehicle passenger to use their window like an Etch-a-Sketch to trace objects they see outside, zoom in on distant objects or...Read...

The recently published half-year sales of the three German luxury car brands (Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz) were quite impressive. All three recorded sales performances that were considered better than ever.However, the Year-over-Year (YOY) growth showed some significant differences: while sales of Audi and BMW models increased by more than 17 percent, the sales performance of Mercedes-Benz (cars, without Smart) improved less than 10%. In absolute terms, BMW is leading with sales of 690,000...Read...

Automotive forecasting companies are all predicting a steady increase in U.S. new light vehicle sales during the next several years on the way to pre-recession annual levels of 15-17 million units by mid-decade. One factor in these predictions on which the forecasting companies are not dwelling as much as they perhaps should be is the large number of “unknowns” facing the industry. I believe, partially because of what this industry has experienced in the past 2–3 years, the U.S. new vehicle...Rea...

Hello, my name is Barbara and I drive a station wagon.   Yes, it's true, I’m so completely uncool that I drive a station wagon. My current wagon is a 2004 Focus, before that I drove a 1998 Escort wagon. I even have a Plymouth (un)Reliant wagon in my past.    I choose compact wagons because they satisfy my twin needs for good gas mileage and for more cargo capacity than a sedan or hatchback would provide. The price difference between a compact wagon and the smallest utility vehicle is a concern,...

While North America and Europe likewise are affected by dealer bankruptcies and network downsizing, Turkey strives for new growth superlatives. Istanbul is building a new mega dealership whose concept completely contradicts the general trends in automotive retail networks. With more than 200 shops on 117.000 sqm (and even an 800-metre test track on the roof of the building!), "Autopia Europia" (opening in 2011) will probably become the largest Auto Mall in the world. Autopia was designed to... Re...

Are flying cars in our future? Perhaps so. Several companies have developed flying car prototypes in recent years and while some of these projects may seem fanciful, others are at an advanced stage, and some may even be marketed shortly. In fact, one of the companies involved in this race announced their marketing for 2011. Here is a brief overview.Xplorair - A French Project The project is currently on the drawing board only. It has been designed by Michel Aguilar, who creates a...

Is it just me, or was there one large, yet unofficial theme at the show this year? Whether you were visiting the show's famous pork sandwich stand or at one of the booths, a certain subject seemed to work itself into every conversation. Of course, there were the events we expect from the commercial vehicle market's leading trade show. The product unveilings were just as dramatic as ever with Kenworth's aerodynamic T700 taking center stage. The overwhelming breadth and depth of the exhibitors...Re...

After the EuroCar Seminar on 20 January 2010, we posted the top ten questions asked by OEM and OES delegates in attendance. Today I will be answering the last few questions. I hope you have found all of our answers helpful. If you missed the answers to the previous questions, don’t forget to read the answers posted by Norm Marks regarding marketing and Thomas Mawick regarding hybrids. Can you share with us where or from whom dealer network planning can be most improved?All manufacturers in...R...

After the EuroCar Seminar on 20 January 2010, we posted the top ten questions asked by OEM and OES delegates in attendance. Today I will be answering questions pertaining to hybrids. If you missed Norm Marks answers to the Marketing questions, you can find them here. Tanja Linken will be answering questions aboout Network Planning in the next blog entry.With regard to CO2 emissions, hybrids and zero emission vehicles, do you have any insight into vehicle whole life costs?This question...

After the EuroCar Seminar on 20 January 2010, we posted the top ten questions asked by OEM and OES delegates in attendance. Today I will answer the three marketing questions. The remaining questions will be answered by Tanja Linken and Thomas Mawick.1. If you could only do one thing with respect to marketing in this environment, what would it be or in what area would you focus?We must optimize automotive marketing both for new vehicle sales and aftersales. That said, aftersales marketing has...Re...