2024-03-29 20:02:06
Exactly 50 years ago, on March 29, 1974, hatchback production began at Volkswagen’s head plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen Golf. This model actually became the new foundation for the success of the entire company and even founded an entire automobile class. Already in October 1976, the Golf’s circulation exceeded one million copies, and over the past half century, more than 37 million cars of eight generations have been produced, of which 20 million were assembled directly in Wolfsburg. The day before, a special anniversary version of the Volkswagen Golf Edition 50 was released, which is already being sold on the European market.
Chinese company Xpeng continues to expand into European markets. Following Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, electric cars of this brand will appear in Germany. The start of sales is scheduled for May, the first models on German soil will be the large crossover Xpeng G9 and the mid-size sedan Xpeng P7. By the end of this year, Xpeng aims to capture 3% of the German electrified car market. However, the Chinese do not intend to stop at Germany; in the near future they plan to enter the markets of France, Italy and the UK.
Last summer, Chery introduced its next sub-brand to the market iCar, the first-born of which was the electric SUV iCar 03. Now the second model is on the way – a compact, angular SUV, currently announced under the symbol V23. You won’t surprise anyone with a brick profile now, so for greater brutality, the future iCar V23 will have a narrowed hood and wide front fenders, like the Jeep Wrangler and other classic all-terrain vehicles.
A company experiencing financial difficulties Polestar announced its intention to increase the number of its “hot” models. Following the Polestar 2 BST liftback, several more driver modifications with such an attachment should be released. The head of the Swedish company, Thomas Ingenlath, explained this decision by the desire to impose competition on the BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche brands, which is difficult to achieve without prestigious powerful models. In addition to the “two,” the range currently includes only Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 models.
In the American division of the company Nissan are thinking regarding reviving the Xterra SUV, and in its original body-on-frame form. Nissan’s people are probably haunted by the success of the evergreen Toyota 4Runner. Now in the company’s global range there is a frame model of the Nissan X-Terra (pictured), but it is no longer young and is not very suitable for the USA. A vice president of Nissan America said a revival of the SUV is “actively being considered,” although he did not provide any specific details.
French premium brand DS switched to a new strategy for completing its vehicles. Starting this summer, all DS models will be available in strictly two versions – the basic Pallas and the luxurious Etoile. A strange decision for the premium segment, where buyers are accustomed to individually choosing options “for themselves.” Apparently, in this way the DS brand, which has not achieved significant sales figures, is trying to reduce production costs.
Ford immediately reduced production of electric pickups by two-thirds Ford F-150 Lightning. The reason was the extremely low demand for electric trucks due to the general slowdown in the growth rate of the electric vehicle market. The company’s management promises that such a radical collapse in production indicators will not lead to mass layoffs of employees. Those involved in F-150 Lightning production will be transferred to other facilities or retired.
Car assembly has begun in Azerbaijan Lada Granta. The capacities of one of AVTOVAZ’s partners are used, and the entire vehicle kits come from Togliatti. By the end of this year, the assembly of the Niva Legend and Niva Travel SUVs will also be mastered here; the overall production plan for this year is up to 1,500 vehicles of all models. Subsequently, Vesta will also be produced in Azerbaijan, and in a few years the production volume should increase to four to five thousand cars per year.
Also today we talked regarding the prospects of Chinese brands in Russia, the Foton Tunland G7 pickup truck, the Xiaomi SU7 electric car and expeditionary UAZs.
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