25 April 2015

Colombia & Ecuador Production by Brand : 2014

Renault Sofasa assembly line in Colombia 

They assemble vehicles in Colombia, in case you were asking the question. Virtually all the Renault cars are really Dacia models, and many are exported. The drop in Mazda production signals the end of assembly in the country. With Colombia making trade deals with many countries, the challenge is whether it is viable to make cars there. Time will tell.


10 11 12 13 14 Model 2014 Share + / -

2 2 1 1 1 Renault 68,453 51% -8%

1 1 1 2 2 Chevrolet 55,966 42% 31%

4 4 4 4 3 Hino 5,742 4% 46%

3 3 3 3 4 Mazda 4,319 3% -41%






Total 134,480 5%

Data source: ANDINA.

Head south and you are in Ecuador. The assembly lines were not quite as busy as they had been in 2013, as the economy is doing it tough at the moment. Import restrictions have been recently applied to encourage the local car assembly industry.





13 14 Model 2014 Share + / -




1 1 Chevrolet 23,557 37% -6%




3 2 Isuzu 13,571 22% 32%




2 3 Kia 10,395 16% -26%




4 4 Suzuki 9,600 15% 4%




5 5 Mazda 5,990 9% -20%






Total 63,113 -6%

Data source: AEADE.

Summary: To make cars competitively today, volume is essential. Unless a market is huge, a nation cannot make vehicles just for itself and be cost effective. It is apparent that is why Mazda is opting out of Colombia. The amount of cars made in Ecuador isn't great enough and only protection will keep car assembly going. 

20 April 2015

Sweden Car Sales By Brand : 1980-84

In 1983, the 240 model (Photo Volvo)

In this five year period, nothing much happened in Sweden. Total sales were stable, with Volvo taking it's share from 25.9% in 1979 to 28.6% in 1983 and falling back slightly in 1984. Still, Volvo was now truly established a the major player by this time. Saab was on the other hand falling back in market share despite a small gain in sales.

As for non-local brands, the growth that Japanese makes had enjoyed since arriving was leveling off. Simca ended, replaced by the Talbot brand but was soon sinking as well. BLMC was all but gone, while Subaru arrived.


Brand 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984

Volvo 50,547 49,766 57,522 62,012 62,495

Saab 27,619 26,741 30,562 29,270 29,610

Ford 16,909 21,128 22,407 21,556 25,539

Opel 17,527 15,917 22,184 20,847 21,957

VW 18,683 20,002 21,369 17,509 19,179

Mazda 8,392 9,439 10,800 12,269 10,926

Toyota 8,718 5,790 8,288 8,646 8,719

Datsun 4,968 4,307 6,282 5,862 7,945

Audi 3,992 4,067 4,901 4,616 6,899

Mercedes 6,263 5,696 6,300 5,854 6,270

Fiat 4,242 2,693 3,698 4,484 4,707

BMW 2,375 2,909 3,644 4,113 4,266

Peugeot 3,634 2,394 2,593 3,568 3,744

Honda 4,309 3,470 4,459 2,986 3,484

Citroën 2,113 2,317 2,300 2,816 3,358

Renault 4,559 2,341 2,480 2,222 2,537

Lancia 604 601 396 1,087 2,215

Mitsubishi 3 1,881 1,504 1,614 1,814

Lada/VAZ 3,005 3,092 2,948 2,244 1,646

Alfa Romeo 498 477 557 810 1,118

Daihatsu 715 931 1,396 1,065 1,049

Subaru

476 638 620

Talbot 1,642 1,590 590 337 312

Porsche 97 110 163 209 293

Skoda 252 319 405 375 286

GM US 737 436 166 87 65

BLMC 249 55 17 17 40

Simca 700 32



Others 35 21 21 10 28

Total 193,387 188,522 218,428 217,123 231,121

Data source: ABStatistik.

All other articles in the series: 1950-541955-591960-641965-691970-74,
1975-791985-891990-941995-992000-042005-09, and 2010-14.

10 April 2015

Simca Car Production By Model : 1980-87

I don't know what Peugeot had in mind when taking over Chrysler Europe. There were benefits to doing so seeing as it got the company without cost and the assets of the company were worth something. If it planned to kick start what had now become the Talbot brand back into life, that idea was soon put to bed. Instead production quickly reduced and ended by 1987.

In reality, trying to resurrect the company was not likely. Putting Talbot logos on PSA cars was the obvious way to go but didn't happen. What was once the Simca car brand was simply absorbed into PSA.

Year Horizon 1307 Samba Rancho 1100 Tagora CKD Total


Solara





1980 158,800 116,500 - 9,800 41,700 500 50,000 377,300
1981 100,400 60,100 18,500 13,800 19,900 15,700 94,179 322,579
1982 71,300 42,400 104,300 8,600 12,800 2,600 27,216 269,216
1983 59,100 29,000 81,800 6,000 14,600 1,300 85,296 277,096
1984 64,138 22,178 44,926 77 - - 76,144 207,463
1985 24,352 17,426 18,946 - - - 50,776 111,500
1986 5,800 3,100 6,700 - - - 13,440 29,040
1987 1,000 - - - - - 2,600 3,600

Data source: Freyssenet.com


Solara: In 1980, a saloon version of the 1307/Alpine hatchback was released. Nearly 70,000 were made in 1980, but production fell away after that. 



Samba: This mini car came as a 3-door hatchback or 2-door cabriolet and was based on the Peugeot 104. It was the only Simca engineered by PSA. Production slumped as the company was wound down. 



Tagora: It was an executive car to replace the 180 series and was an even bigger flop, if that was possible. 

Summary: The once successful Simca car make came to an undignified end. What started out in the 1930's by Fiat ended up being assimilated by the PSA Group. With so many brands making mainstream cars, it's hard to see how things could have worked out any other way for Simca.

For others in the series, simply click on the dates: 1947-59, 1960-69, and 1970-79