Austerity brings smaller cars to Geneva Motor Show | 101 Daily News

Automakers are thinking small ? in size, not ambition.

After years marked by environmental concerns, then the economic downturn and at the present European austerity measures, car manufacturers have honed their products to cater for cost-conscious buyers.

And it?s not now compacts and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) that are receiving smaller. Even premium automakers are downsizing.

At the Geneva Motor demonstrate, which opens to the press on Tuesday, Audi will unveil a fresh A3, Mercedes-Benz its rejuvenated A-Class, and Volvo its V40.

?Buyers are ever more looking to downsize and hunt for savings in terms of running costs and depreciation, while enjoying the status and quality of premium brands,? said Mr Tim Urquhart, analyst at IHS Automotive.

Mr Urquhart said the trend could increase pressure on mass-market automakers like Fiat, Renault, PSA Peugeot-Citroen and universal Motors? (GM) Opel ? which are being caught among both premium carmakers and value carmakers such as Volkswagen?s Skoda and Korean manufacturers Kia and Hyundai.

General Motors and Peugeot last week announced an coalition they hope will get better their prospects in the hard European market, which has registered four consecutive years of decline. GM will take a 7 per cent stake in Peugeot, Europe?s No. 2 automaker, in a contract that foresees a common platform by 2014 and synergies in the purchase of parts. The carmakers say it will save them US$2 billion (S$2.5 billion) a year within five years, split roughly equally.

Peugeot is unveiling the new 208, a model that is particularly important for a corporation heavily dependent on European sales. Peugeot has made the 208 both shorter and lighter than its predecessor, the Peugeot 207, a sign of where the auto manufacturing is heading.

?The Peugeot 208 is both key to helping the French out of the crisis, while at the identical time presentation the potential to be a trendsetter,? said Mr Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director for the Centre for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg in Germany.

On the other side of the alliance, GM?s Opel will be introducing its latest Mokka compact SUV, entering the increasing segment of compact SUVs occupied in Europe by the Suzuki SX4 and the Fiat Sedici. Just 4.2m long, the Mokka is still classed as a five-seater.

IHS Automotive forecasts the dense SUV segment, which grew from 100,000 in sales in 2010 to 160,000 last year, will expand to 400,000 by 2014. Citroen, too, will be aiming for that marketplace with its C4 Aircross.

Fiat will unveil the new 500L ? a multipurpose version of its hot-selling remake of the iconic 500, at the present nearly five years old. The five-seater vehicle is on a slightly larger platform than the 500 and replaces the now phased-out Multipla.

The 500L is being shaped at Fiat?s factory in Kragujevac, Serbia, and will be introduce in Europe at the end of 2012.

Among higher-end brands, BMW?s new 3-Series will be creation its debut in Geneva, but is by now proving a quick sell in European showrooms.

IHS automotive forecasts sales of the latest model will rise to 420,000 vehicles in 2012, from 380,000 last year. New body styles such as the Gran Coupe and GT are expected to further add to sales to nearly 620,000 by 2014.

in the middle of Germany?s other big names, Audi will reveal the third age group of its A3 and the first new Audi C-Segment in nearly a decade. The A3 series, which accounts for a few 20 per cent of all Audi sales, will shift to a new modular architecture that will be used for the majority of the group?s vehicles over the coming years.

Mercedes, meanwhile, is hoping to arrive at younger customers with its novel A-class, a model often considered the protect of the over-50s.

At past events, automakers showed off alternative power trains ? mostly in the previous of electric cars and hybrids. This year?s Geneva Motor Show will see a lot of of those early developments refined, like Mazda?s i-ELoop technology that uses capacitors to bring regenerative braking by now found in electric vehicles to fuel-powered cars.

Mr Dudenhoeffer says squeezing competence out of traditional petrol- or diesel-powered combustion engines will be a center of the show. That includes the Peugeot 107, the Citroen C1 and the updated Toyota Aygo.

Source: http://101dailynews.com/austerity-brings-smaller-cars-to-geneva-motor-show/

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