GENEVA - Two of Europe’s best-selling cars, the Renault Clio and Peugeot 208, go head-to-head at the Geneva motor show on Tuesday, as the auto market they dominate faces transformative pressures on its future profits and jobs.
In other ways, though, they show an industry fast adapting. Both models are poised to abandon what remains of their French production, completing a once controversial shift to lower-cost plants in Turkey, eastern Europe and Morocco. Both will also introduce electric and hybrid drivetrain options - which themselves pose a further challenge to supplier jobs“There’s an ongoing need for compact, efficient urban models,” said Jean-Philippe Imparato, head of the Peugeot brand. “The market is robust.
While higher-riding SUVs are on a relative upswing, compact hatchbacks such as the Clio and 208 are still Europe’s biggest vehicle category by volume, accounting for 3.5 million annual sales for an 18 percent market share. “Instead of moving forwards, the industry is regressing at a time when emissions targets are getting tougher,” said analyst Felipe Munoz of consulting firm JATO, which compiled the data.
With its lower, wider, longer 208, Peugeot has adopted the lighting signature and other design cues from its 3008 and 5008 SUV siblings, whose runaway success has lifted pricing power and driven PSA Group to record profits.Assembly of the 208 will end at the group’s Poissy plant west of Paris, which had handled overflow production of the current model built mainly in Trnava, Slovakia.
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