Apro questo nuovo topic con 2 notizie 1) Bmw aprirà una nuova fabbrica in Ungheria per veicoli sia a trazione posteriore che a trazione anteriore. Devo amaramente constatare che imprecare contro l’Europa ogni giorno non impedisce ad Orban di prendersi contributi miliardari da Bruxelles per dare incentivi fiscali ai costruttori
La seconda notizia è il dilemma strategico sul futuro di Mini, riporto un interessantissimo articolo di Autocar.
The future of the Mini brand is being radically rethought as its BMW parent makes major changes to its product plans.
Autocar understands that plans for a new fourth-generation Mini have been pushed back and any new model will not appear before 2023. Even the major makeover scheduled for today’s Mini range in late 2019 might be canned as part of BMW’s comprehensive planning overhaul.
One plan for the Oxford-based brand would see BMW and Chinese car maker Great Wall teaming up to engineer a new small front-wheel-drive platform, which would be used for an all-new range of Minis to be launched from 2023.
Sources also say the fourth-generation Mini range is likely to shrink, with an axe hanging over future versions of the cabriolet and the three-door hatchback.
2019 Mini Electric: first official pictures
The dislocation of the Mini brand comes after BMW’s decision to shift production to just two platforms for all of its future models. These have been dubbed FAAR for front-wheel-drive cars and CLAR for rear-wheel-drive ones, as revealed by Autocar in December last year.
This strategic move, say insiders, has left Mini’s future up in the air because the FAAR architecture is too expensive and too big to underpin future Mini models.
As BMW platform strategist Lutz Meyer told Autocar, both the FAAR and CLAR platforms will be engineered to allow vehicles to be produced with internal combustion engines, as plug-in hybrids and as pure- electric models.
OUR VERDICT Mini 3-door Hatch Mini Cooper S Now in its third generation, we find out if the bigger, cleverer and more mature Mini can still entertain like it predecessors did
Find an Autocar car review
Driven this week Skoda Octavia vRS diesel longterm review hero front 21 SEPTEMBER 2018 FIRST DRIVE Skoda Octavia vRS long-term review We’ve just had a diesel vRS for three months. Next up: a petrol vRS for three... Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer longterm review on the road 21 SEPTEMBER 2018 FIRST DRIVE Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer long-term review How suited is this estate to the demands of the business traveller? We aim to... Jaguar I-Pace 2018 road test review hero front 21 SEPTEMBER 2018 CAR REVIEW Jaguar I-Pace It looks the part, promises 0-60mph in 4.5sec, has a near-300 mile range, and... Article continues below advertisement
The electric motor on the hybrid versions of the new- generation vehicles will drive the axle not powered by the internal combustion engine. This engineering layout means that future BMW plug-in hybrids will be all-wheel drive.
Such a complex ‘multi-fuel’ platform will be more expensive to engineer and produce than today’s rather simpler, front- wheel-drive UKL platform, which underpins the Mini family and BMW models such as the 2 Series Active Tourer and X1.
For BMW, the FAAR and CLAR architectures are essential because it is proving difficult to predict with accuracy future buying patterns and the extent to which drivers will swap to pure- electric vehicles.
As a global brand, BMW also has to cover individual market moves in different countries. For example, China is switching to electric cars at a much faster rate than Western markets.
Furthermore, the Mini brand’s fundamental problem is that it is a relatively small part of the BMW operation. In 2017, the BMW Group sold 2.46 million vehicles. Of that total, Mini accounted for 372,000 units globally — a sixth of the company’s output.
Crucially, however, the six-model Mini range shares technology with a number of BMWs (including the new X1 and X2 crossovers) and total production of the front-drive UKL platform is a very healthy 850,000-plus units annually.
Even so, when BMW begins the shift to the FAAR platform from 2021, production of the UKL platform will be phased out.
This is the hard industrial logic that lies behind BMW’s attempts to broker a deal with another car maker to engineer a new platform that is modern and safe but less complex and expensive to produce.
Industry rumours suggest that BMW held extensive talks with Toyota on a co-operative project, but that came to nothing. A deal with Great Wall looks more promising because BMW and the Chinese maker have already formed a 50/50 joint venture. Called Spotlight Automotive, it will produce an electric version of today’s Mini in China.
If the new BMW-Great Wall platform project goes ahead, the 2023 Mini family will be quite different. There’s unlikely to be a cabriolet and the three-door bodystyle could also be dropped. Expect a compact five-door hatch and new Clubman and Countryman models that will be less bulky and rather more lithe than today’s cars, which are hampered (especially in the case of the five-door hatch) by having to be built on a platform designed primarily for vehicles from a larger segment.
Three-cylinder engines with mild-hybrid assistance will be standard issue on the new models. A pure-electric version of the platform, spun into two models, is part of Great Wall’s plan to offer seven EVs in its range by 2025.
The Mk4 Mini will still be made in the UK, but localised production for the Chinese market seems highly likely. In 2017, only 35,000 Minis were sold in China. The cost benefits of local production could boost that significantly.
Why BMW is looking to China:
One significant reason for BMW pursuing a platform deal with a Chinese maker is that the engineering costs will be notably lower than for a platform engineered in Europe. It’s not widely appreciated that the cost of engineering a new platform has to be amortised across every car that is built on it.
High wage costs for Western engineers (alongside factory workers, designers and management staff) is a massive issue for cars like the Mini, which are priced from £16,000 in three-door form. In stark contrast, the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer costs from £24,000, making it far easier to cover the cost of the European-engineered multi-fuel FAAR platform.
Traditionally, Mini’s vast array of options packages has boosted profitability, but as standard equipment levels have increased, this effect has lessened.
La Mini è stata indubbiamente un successo per il gruppo Bmw, al momento del lancio nel 2002 si sperava di venderne 100.000 l’anno e di arrivare al pareggio operativo. Mini ha sempre contribuito ai profitti di Bmw e ormai siamo sopra alle 300.000 unità. Ovviamente una Mini non può realizzare i margini di una serie 5, i volumi sono significativi ma non abbastanza per realizzare importanti sinergie. La piattaforma UKL (la stessa per i vari modelli Mini e per la serie 1) secondo Autocar verrà abbandonata, sarebbe troppo pesante e costosa per le Mini, ad esempio non sono riusciti a creare la Mini da 3,5 mt. Bmw sarebbe al lavoro con Great Wall per creare una piattaforma comune per le prossime Mini, potrebbe essere eliminata la versione a 3 porte (che idea idiota, imho). Se il progetto dovesse aver via libera la nuova Mini arriverebbe per il 2023.
|