French makers turn to Germany
BY MARTON PETTENDY | 15th Dec 2008
However, none of the French brands’ hybrid models, which will be released in Europe from 2011, are guaranteed for Australia because of the high costs involved in developing and manufacturing the new Hybrid4 all-wheel drive diesel-electric drivetrain.
Unveiled at the Paris motor show in October underneath the Peugeot Prologue and Citroen Hypnos concept cars, the system comprises a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine to power the front wheels and a battery-powered electric motor to drive the rear wheels.
In the Prologue crossover, which is expected to appear under a different name in final production form at the Geneva motor show in March, it is claimed to deliver about 150kW while returning CO2 emissions of 109 grams per kilometre and cutting fuel consumption by 30 per cent over the conventional diesel version.
PSA’s diesel-hybrid hardware will be co-developed, industrialised and supplied by Bosch, one of the world’s oldest and largest automotive equipment manufacturers, which will also supply the rear electric motor, the front-mounted high-voltage alternator and the electronics to control them, including ABS and ESP energy recovery systems.
Automotive News Europe has reported PSA’s director of hybrid and electric programs, Eric Breton, as predicting the diesel hybrid powertrain will add between €4000 and €5000 ($A8000-$A10,000) to the cost of a comparable diesel-engined vehicle.
Despite claims by some car-makers, suppliers and analysts that consumers will not pay more for diesel hybrids, PSA hopes increasingly high CO2 emissions taxes and the rising cost of fuel in Europe will attract sufficient sales volumes. The EU hopes to cut average new-car emissions from 158 to 130g/km between 2012 and 2015.
PSA had originally promised its first hybrid cars would emerge in 2010, but while Peugeot’s Prologue-based small SUV will hit Europe in mid-2009 and is likely to arrive in Australia by the end of next year, diesel-electric power will not eventuate in Europe until 2011, when hybrid versions of Citroen’s C4 small car and C5 mid-sizer will also appear, with right-hand drive production to follow.
But already the Australian distributors of Citroen and Peugeot vehicles have cautioned the diesel hybrid system’s high price premium, as well as uncertainty surrounding the Australian currency and fuel prices, may prevent it being offered here.
“The 308 Touring has been very successful with people downsizing from larger passenger cars and SUVs, so the Prologue has even bigger potential here,” said Peugeot Automobiles Australia national public relations manager Mathew McAuley.
“But it’s far too early to comment on local pricing and availability. Obviously there will be a premium for hybrid technology, especially given Peugeot’s concentration on diesel-hybrid technology which already exists but is yet to enter mass production.
“The (price) premium will be as low as possible, but there will be a premium,” he said.
Citroen Australia public relations manager Edward Rowe was more sceptical about the potential of C4 and C5 hybrids being sold here.
“I think you will probably see the first Citroen hybrids appear in the coming months, but volume production of the full range won’t begin until 2011 and with so much else going on at the moment it is hard to put a definitive launch date on anything,” he said.
“Essentially Bosch will be productionising what Citroen is already developing, that is a C4 hybrid and a C5 hybrid, which should be launched in Europe in the next 12 months, but an Australian launch depends on prices.
“Tell me what the (Australian) dollar will be (worth) in 12 months, what fuel will cost and what the economy will be doing and I can give you a better idea,” said Mr Rowe.
The collapse of the Australian dollar has already seen Citroen Australia discontinue its C2 light car, while two versions of the C4 have already disappeared from Citroen showrooms in the lead-up to the facelifted model and the new C5 sedan and wagon is no longer available with a petrol engine.
Further, the price of the remaining C4 VTS Coupe has been slashed by $7000 to $29,990 to stimulate sales in run-out mode and the C4 may not be replaced, while prices of Citroen’s Dispatch van have been cut by $5000 (SWB – now $29,990) and $4000 (LWB – now $32,990).
“The C2 (has been axed in Australia) because the collapse of the Australian dollar means its pricing is no longer viable for this market, the C4 versions have gone pending the arrival of the facelifted car and the C6 petrol variants (are also discontinued) because the demand is totally for the diesel variants.
“The C2 has just been facelifted in Europe. All new stock would be at the much lower Australian dollar rate and the price rise that this would mean renders the car no longer viable in price terms for the Australian car market, especially with the deep, deep discounting that is prevalent in the small-car market. One the market and economy return to normal, the C2 may re-appear.
“The Citroen C4 is in run out. We have dropped the variants of which we no longer have stock (1.6-litre petrol coupe and hatch) from the price list as we are legally required to do.
“The other model’s revised pricing reflects the normal runout program and the general turmoil in the new-car market. As for the revised Citroen C4, we do not have a fixed launch date for it, due to the general market turmoil, again.
“Like everyone else we are repricing the Dispatch to try and maintain sales in a severely declining market. Just like my local Toyota dealer doing the Yaris for $13,990 driveaway and my local Hyundai dealer doing the Getz for $9990, we are responding to changing market conditions,” said Mr Rowe.
Meantime, Citroen’s remaining C5 diesel range has increased in price by between $2000 and $2750. The entry-level C5 2.0 HDi Comfort is now priced at $51,990 – up $2000 or four per cent.
“The first cars to be hit with price rises due to the collapse of the Australia dollar will be newly launched models, as their stock in Australia is the lowest. And so it is with the new C5 - we have sold the launch stock of the new C5 and the cars arriving now are starting – and I stress starting – to show the drop in Australian dollar in their RRP, as we are having to pay more for these newly arrived cars.
“The cars that have just arrived reflect only the start of the decline of the dollar. This will be the first of a series of price rises, of course. There are more price rises to come.” Citroen Australia has this year experienced the worst sales decline of any prestige or luxury car-maker except Saab, with just 2550 vehicles sold to November following a 42 per cent sales slump last month, representing a 26 per cent sales slide this year.
Year-to-date, sales of the C6 are 60 per cent down, the C2 is 47 per cent down, the Berlingo is 41 per cent down, the C3 is 40 per cent down, the C4 and C5 are 20 per cent down and Citroen has sold 43 Dispatches in 2007 - just three in November. The Grand Picasso is Citroen’s only shining light – up 5.5 per cent.
In other PSA news, in lieu of producing its first hybrid models in 2010, the French giant will next year introduce the same Bosch-developed “start/stop” (idle-stop) technology that already features in some BMW and Mini models, and will soon debut in Kia and Fiat models.
Claimed to deliver a five per cent reduction in New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) fuel consumption (and up to eight per cent in all-urban driving), the Bosch system has been manufactured since 2007 and comprises a specially adapted starter motor, battery sensor and a specific engine management system.
Fiat’s first model to be so equipped will be the 500 1.2 with Dualogic automated manual transmission, with other variants to follow in 2009, while Kia will begin series production of its start/stop-equipped Cee’d for Europe in the coming months.
Bosch anticipates that half of all new vehicles in Europe will employ idle-stop systems by 2012, with more than 500,000 starters already delivered to BMW and Mini.
“In 2008, roughly five per cent of all new vehicles in Europe are equipped with a start/stop system. By 2012, we estimate this will be every second newly registered vehicle – most of them with Bosch technology,” said Stefan Asenkerschbaumer, president of the Bosch starter motors and generators division.
Bosch says that unlike other idle-stop systems, which also automatically stop the engine when the vehicle is stationary and restart it when the clutch pedal or accelerator is depressed, its starter-based system is suitable for cold starts in diesel engines and delivers a superior cost-benefit ratio because it is based on existing components.
Including Robert Bosch GmbH, which was established in Stuttgart in 1886, the Bosch Group comprises more than 300 subsidiaries, employs about 271,000 workers globally (with 370 dedicated to its 30-year-old hybrid technology unit) and applies for about 3000 worldwide patents annually in its capacity as a leading supplier of automotive, industrial, consumer and building technology and services.
Bernd Bohr, a senior executive with the company, last week told German magazine Auto Motor that the global financial crisis will force it to retrench an unspecified number of jobs in 2009 following weaker sales growth and higher costs in 2008.
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