Category: Brands

The lines at GM’s Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly plant – better known these days as Factory Zero – are alive with the sounds of GMC Hummer EV SUVs coming together. January 30 marks the start of production for the long-awaited luxury off-roader.

GMC and Buick Global Vice President Duncan Aldred confirmed the production launch today during a GMC business roundtable. If all goes according to plan, GMC will start slowly with a considerable ramp-up in production for the second half of the year. Specific on-sale dates or planned production numbers weren’t offered, but GMC currently has 90,000 Hummer EV reservations to fill. Aldred further stated that of those 90,000 units, approximately 50 to 60 percent were for the pickup truck.

Aldred also confirmed that GMC was looking into offering the Hummer EV SUV in China, but that a final decision on that front hasn’t been reached. General Motors traveled to Shanghai in November for the China International Import Expo, presenting the Hummer EV SUV and Cadillac Celestiq to the market for the first time. Aldred said GMC was “gauging interest” for luxury EVs in China but didn’t mention anything further on the subject.

The Hummer EV news was part of a broader presentation on the state of GMC’s business activity in 2022, which saw the company gain market share over crosstown rivals Ford and Ram. In addition to EV talk, GMC said demand is “really high” for the 2023 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X AEV Edition, which debuted in July 2022 and is expected to go on sale later this year.

GMC is still on track to have its electric Sierra EV pickup truck on sale early next year in range-topping Denali Edition 1, which will have an MSRP similar to the Hummer. When that happens, GMC will have two six-figure, full-size electric trucks but the automaker doesn’t see them competing within the company. In an email to Motor1.com, GMC said it considers the Hummer as a halo vehicle for the company, while the Sierra EV is aimed at “towards the heart of the premium truck market.”

Nissan announced its 2022 business results, and the automaker had a rough year. Global sales fell 20.7 percent to nearly 3.23 million vehicles versus 4.06 million in 2021.

The numbers fell in every major region for the company. Sales in Japan were only down 0.5 percent. However, the figure fell 25.4 percent in the United States and 23.8 percent for North America as a whole. The numbers in Europe slipped by 23.1 percent, and China experienced a 22.1 percent decrease. The table below shows the global sales figures:

In just the US, the Rogue was Nissan’s bestseller for 2022. The company moved 186,480 of them for the year, which was down 34.7 percent from 285,602 examples in 2021.

Nissan also built fewer vehicles worldwide in 2022. The company produced around 3.25 million automobiles, which was down 9.4 percent from 2021. The factories in Japan made 12.6 percent more products, but the ones elsewhere in the world had a 12.9 percent decline. The table below shows this data.

Looking toward the future, Nissan will unveil an electric vehicle concept on February 1 at 8 PM EST (February 2 at 1 AM GMT). Judging from the teaser, it will possibly be a real-world version of the Max-Out from earlier renderings. The vehicle imagines a roadster with eye-catching styling.

Nissan will also revise its pickup lineup in the US soon. The fullsized Titan is going away, possibly before the end of the year, and there’s no replacement in the product strategy. In addition, the company is investigating whether to build a midsized electric truck.

In 2022, the company took out a loan for the equivalent of about $1.44 billion to fund “zero emission mobility investments.” The Nissan Sustainable Finance Framework is handling how to disperse the money. The projects include clean manufacturing, battery development, autonomous driving tech, charging, new vehicles, and more.

Despite supply bottlenecks that hampered production and consequently impacted sales, Toyota managed to defend its title as the best-selling car manufacturer in 2022. The final numbers are in, showing the Japanese automaker shipped 10,483,024 vehicles to customers from all over the world. The total – which is down by 0.1 percent compared to 2021 – includes deliveries made by subsidiaries Daihatsu as well as commercial vehicle manufacturer Hino.

Toyota ended the year way ahead of the Volkswagen Group as the German automotive conglomerate sold only 8.3 million cars in 2022, down by seven percent compared to the year before. It was VW’s worst result in over a decade, caused by supply shortages generated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition, COVID-19 lockdowns in China also took their toll on sales as the world’s most populous country is one of VW’s main markets.

Getting back to Toyota, although global sales were slightly down, worldwide production actually increased by 5.3 percent to 10,610,604 units. The core brand assembled 5.2 percent more vehicles than the year before, reaching 9,026,713 units. Domestic production decreased by 7.7% to 2,656,009 cars while the number of vehicles assembled outside of Japan jumped by 11.7 percent to 6,370,704 cars.

Although Toyota is holding on to the global sales crown, it was dethroned in the United States by General Motors. In 2022, GM moved 2,274,088 vehicles while Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), which includes Lexus, delivered 2,108,458 during the calendar year.

Parts shortages are still giving Toyota serious headaches, forcing the company to halt operations at its factory in the Czech Republic in February. The plant in Kolin where workers put together the Aygo X and Yaris will be on a hiatus from January 31 until the end of next month.

Global production plans are being adjusted on a monthly basis because of supply constraints. If everything goes according to plan, Toyota intends to build 10.6 million vehicles in 2023, so just about the same as last year.

According to Marc Lichte, Audi’s design chief, the German marque is preparing to launch its most ambitious product plan yet in the next few years. The plan will involve releasing more than 20 cars, including a series of ground-up electric vehicles and successors to existing internal combustion engine models.

Lichte stated in an exclusive interview with the UK’s Auto Express, “We’re working on EVs and successors to the ICE models. We’re about to see the biggest product launch in the history of Audi with more than 20 cars in the next two and a half years. That’s why we’re focusing on cars like the Activesphere concept, which is our last show car for the next few years so that we can focus on series production.”

This statement highlights the brand’s focus on transitioning towards full electrification and the importance of the new-generation electric cars, as seen in the A6 E-Tron, which is already being tested in public, and the newly unveiled Audi Activesphere Concept.

The Activesphere concept is a significant vehicle in Audi’s future vision of mobility. It’s the last of the “sphere” concepts and is designed as a luxury coupe that can transform into a pickup, showcasing the automaker’s ability to combine versatility and technology. According to the company, the Activesphere is packed with ideas and technology that may be years away from becoming reality, but it highlights the potential of high-tech vehicles in the future.

The concept boasts an attractive design combining Audi’s Sportback and Allroad models, creating an SUV-like EV. It also features advanced technology such as air suspension with adaptive dampers, allowing it to increase its ground clearance by 1.57 inches (40 millimeters). The exterior design also includes vertical studs and metal strips to enhance the added height visually.

Audi has already announced that it will only introduce EVs from 2026 on its way to phasing out ICE-powered vehicles by 2033. The company is also poised to build all zero-emission vehicles at all of its factories by 2029, investing approximately €500 million in the process to train its employees for EV production around the world.

Supply issues continue to affect the automotive industry. In fact, many automakers reported a decline in sales for 2022 due to production disruptions caused by inconsistent supplies. Now, Toyota has to deal with more supply problems and has taken the unprecedented decision to close its plant in the Czech Republic for the entire month of February as a result.

The factory in Kolin, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) east of Prague, currently produces the Aygo X and Yaris, and last year, its output increased by roughly 35 percent to 202,255 assembled cars. Toyota took full ownership of the production site in 2021 and ever since, it has invested more than $200 million in its expansion. Before 2021, the plant was owned by Toyota and the PSA Group on a joint venture principle. 

Toyota doesn’t go into details regarding the nature of the supply issues – we don’t know whether they are related to the continuing global chip shortage or something else. “Due to a shortage of components in the supply chain, we will be forced to halt production temporarily from January 31,” Tomas Paroubek, the plant’s spokesman, told Automotive News earlier this week.

Toyota’s planned global production volume for February is expected to be approximately 750,000 units, of which about 300,000 units will be built in Japan and 450,000 units at other plants around the globe. In addition to its Czech plant, the automaker will have to pause production at the Toyota Motor Corporation Motomachi Plant in Japan for two days. This is where the GR Yaris and GR Corolla performance models are manufactured.

Earlier this year, Toyota announced it had to make a number of changes to its production plan for 2023. The revised plan forecasts up to 10.6 million Toyota vehicles will be assembled this year. However, the company has set a baseline production volume with a downward risk fluctuation range of approximately 10 percent.