Automotive industry briefing

Mitsubishi Motors Europe will follow up the new generation ASX and the redesigned Colt due in autumn 2023 with the flagship Outlander in 2024. The Outlander PHEV is already on sale in North America as a 2023 model and the EU version “reconfirms the brand’s commitment to the reference European region, and will further expand its offering in core segments with electrified models”, MME said in a statement. A spokesman told Just Auto by email the new model would be launched only in LHD markets – on 1 October 2021, Mitsubishi Motors UK halted all new car sales for good as its contract with Colt Car Company ended and the aftersales business was sold to Subaru and Isuzu importer International Motors which created a new subsidiary for service parts and accessories.

Toyota Australia has said it will offer the second generation C-HR small SUV due for launch in 2024 only with a hybrid powertrain. The decision reflects the growing customer demand for hybrid vehicles with Australian customers purchasing a record 72,815 electrified Toyotas in 2022, accounting for 31.5% of the brand’s overall sales. Toyota Australia has said it expects electrified vehicles to account for over half of its sales by 2025. Globally, the new C-HR will be available as a self-charging hybrid technology or a new plug in hybrid (PHEV) variant.

Hyundai Motor has revealed its redesigned Kona Electric B-SUV with a long range 65.4kWh battery and WLTP estimated 490km (300mile) of claimed class leading range for the European specification model. Over the Air (OTA) software updates will be available.

BMW is gearing up to produce its first Mini electric model in Germany from 2023. The automaker announced in 2020 it would bring Countryman production in house after initially contracting out assembly to Magna Steyr in Austria and then VDL in the Netherlands. The Mini’s high voltage batteries will also be made at Leipzig which will have eight separate e-component production lines by 2024 after an investment of EUR800m in a production area of 150,000 square metres. By then, 1,000 people will work in e-component production.

Chinese EV start-up Xpeng has officially launched its new P7i sports saloon (or sedan) car for the Chinese market claiming the new model is brimming with its ‘most advanced technologies with significant upgrades in driver assistance, smart cockpit, performance and charging efficiency’. Pricing of the new P7i starts at RMB 249,900 and delivery will kick off in March for customers in China.

Chinese EV start-up Xpeng has officially launched its new P7i sports saloon (or sedan) car for the Chinese market claiming the new model is brimming with its ‘most advanced technologies with significant upgrades in driver assistance, smart cockpit, performance and charging efficiency’. Pricing of the new P7i starts at RMB 249,900 and delivery will kick off in March for customers in China.

Hyundai Motor has started production of the battery-powered version of the Genesis GV70 SUV model in the US, as the company steps up its expansion into the country’s fast-expanding EV market. The South Korean carmaker has held a ceremony celebrating the launch of production of its first EV model in the USA, at its plant in Montgomery in the state of Alabama.