You’d Never Guess There Was A Problem As Model Flow Continues
New Small SUV Niche Opens Up; Flash Cars To The Fore As Well
“Don’t forget to say “connectivity” somewhere in your speech”
Europe’s car industry is gritting its collective teeth and hoping for better times.
That was the message being transmitted to the world on press preview day for the annual Geneva Car Show, as sales slump to 20 year lows, with no rally in sight, just the hopes that the bottom of the recession might be near. Most leaders of Europe’s biggest car companies either didn’t mention the future of the industry at all, or quickly turned to some new buzzword to hopefully divert attention away from the current mess.
The last few years have seen the industry turn from eagerly embracing performance and power, to more frugal electric themes. This year the key word on every chief executive’s lips is “connectivity”, followed by phrases showing how much they understand that young people have fallen out of love with the automobile, and that they are equally excited by their smart phones and the apps they download, than the possession of some supercar.
No matter that the average age of a new car buyers is over 50 years old, and that this discovery that the young are no longer interested in cars is simply a function of their current lack of economic power. When the economy in Europe recovers, so will the under 30’s enthusiasm for wheels.
Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is, saying things don’t look like getting any better in Europe.
“I don’t see any glimmer of hope (for a European market recovery) this year. The first quarter will be rough,” he told journalists at a press conference at the show.
New Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann, on his third day in the job, not surprisingly wasn’t keen to speculate about markets, only conceding that conditions were bad, and that it was the same for everyone.
No improvement
Ford Europe CEO Stephen Odell didn’t see any improvement in the market this year.
BMW thought Europe’s problems were here to stay for the foreseeable future.
“We believe that the underlying problem in Europe, which is mainly about debt, will persist for at least five more years,” BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer said.
Morgan Stanley now expects sales in Western Europe to fall six per cent this year. Previously the consensus suggested a five per cent fall.
Apart from connectivity, a more practical and useful trend in new cars was apparent, as many manufacturers added small SUVs to their range. This trend was started by Opel-Vauxhall with its Mokka last year, and was joined today by the Renault Captur, Peugeot 2008, Ford EcoSport, and Fiat 500L.
Despite the current recession, there was no shortage of hugely expensive and gas guzzling supercars. The 6.2 litre 45-hp V8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible took a first bow, along with the Rolls Royce Wraith coupe, Bentley Flying Spur, and Ferrari F150 Enzo.
Scary Qoros
More down-market will be the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo, a 3 Series with a hatchback. Opel unveiled the Cascada four-seat convertible. Most scary for the Europeans was the appearance of the Chinese Qoros GQ3 hatchback. Qoros said it would not compete for the lowest possible price, but would offer what it called a value proposition, Prices for the car will start at under 28,000 euros in Germany. Experts don’t expect a big threat from Chinese manufacturers to start for at least five years.
But perhaps the star of the show came from Mercedes with its beautiful new CLA, a version of the new A class which failed to become Car of the Year yesterday.
The Geneva Car Show opens to the public March 7 through March 17.
No comments yet.